Bequest
by ChristyCat
Summary: After a shocking event, Superman discovers what family is and finds the legacy he has been given to pass on, is one far more powerful than his abilities.
1. The Call

_Bequest:_

_- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another. _

_- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest : ****Chapter One**

The late morning sunlight streamed through the blinds of the Daily Planet bullpen, warming the air it touched, setting dust particles to sparkle lazily as they made their way to the desk of Lois Lane and found her struggling to focus on the task before her.

Lois brushed the hair impatiently from her face, stabbing the delete button on the keyboard for what seemed the millionth time. Her eyes were fixed on the taunting blank screen of her computer, but her mind tempted her toward the events of the past week. Lois gave herself a mental shake, looking over her story notes again. She let out a determined breath, straightened her shoulders and began typing. But all too soon the mundane details of the article proved no match for the extraordinary facts of her own life that clamored for her attention.

It had been three days since her world had been turned on its ear.

One would think finding out her best friend and the man she loved were the same person would make her life easier. But all it had managed to do was complicate things. How could she know what was real and what was a mask? The truth was… she wasn't sure she knew either of them anymore.

And it hurt.

It was easier to be angry right now than to think too much on how much it hurt her that Clark felt he couldn't trust her with his secret.

Clark had been one of the few people in her life that she had trusted. She hadn't had many close friends growing up, years of disappointment from family and friends had built the impenetrable wall around her, brick by emotionally damaged brick.

Then she had met Clark Kent. His inherent goodness and general naiveté about the very things in life that had hardened her attracted her to him like the proverbial moth to a flame. Lois had felt safe around him, convinced that he didn't have a duplicitous bone in his tweed covered body. He had systematically chiseled away at her defenses until one day; in spite of herself she had opened herself up to his friendship.

An unstoppable journalism team, they had grown together as partners and more importantly; friends. Clark had been her safety net. He kept her feet firmly planted on the ground when her lofty ideas would have sent her into the stratosphere. His honesty, though brutal at times was full of the charm that they only grow in Kansas. Clark could always make her laugh, be it on purpose, or by his klutzy antics. He also made her see red, many times finding himself on the other side of her legendary temper, yet somehow able to stand toe to toe and live to tell the tale.

When she met Superman, she hadn't noticed the close proximity to her chance meeting of her new friend. Superman had literally swooped into her life, she found herself falling in love for the first time. Through years of friendship she had confided in Clark her growing feelings for the man behind the public symbol of truth and justice.

Lois snorted wryly as she took a sip of her coffee. _Truth._

To his credit she supposed, Clark had never tried to dig details or information out of her, and perhaps that was the very reason she was so honest and forthcoming about her feelings for Superman with him.

She was swept away by his ideals and goodness. For all his strength, she found in him the gentlest of souls. He protected her heart with the same diligence that he protected the world they lived in.

When she found out she was pregnant, after Superman, the first person she wanted to tell was Clark. Lois had been ecstatic and terrified all at once. Thrilled at the prospect of being a mother and carrying the child of the man she loved, and fearing what kind of difficulties would come as a result of her child's parentage.

Clark had always been there when she needed him and then all at once he disappeared on some impromptu trip he'd supposedly been planning to go on for months and had never once mentioned it to her. This tied in unbeknownst to her with Superman's sudden disappearance.

In one horrible day, she lost the man she loved and her best friend all in one fell swoop.

_How could I have been so blind? _The timing alone should have raised a red flag. When she thought of all the marginally believable excuses Clark was always making to leave, let alone the physical resemblance, she wondered if it was she rather than Clark Kent that should be wearing glasses.

Lois didn't know who she was more upset with. Clark for lying to her, or herself for not realizing he was.

He was the last person she would ever expect such a betrayal from. The laughable thing was, she felt she'd been betrayed twice; once from Superman and once from Clark.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Her closest friend, the man she loved – were the same man. The whole mess left a bitter taste in her mouth. She would slap him again if she thought he would feel it.

"Hey Lois! Did you want any more coffee before I throw away the pot?" Jimmy Olson leaned over the partition between their desks.

Lois glowered up at Jimmy, the prospect of caffeine keeping her from throttling him altogether. It wasn't his fault. Lois sighed.

"Yes, Jimmy. Can you bring me two actually?"

"Sure thing, Lois! Is one for Cl -" he halted at her expression. "I'm…just going to get the coffee."

Lois' teeth dug into the pencil she had placed between them, if it broke, it wouldn't be the first one today.

_Ring._

The phone at her desk rang beside her, snapping her out of her macabre revere.

"What!"

"Lois Lane?" A kind, soft voice asked from the other end of the line.

"This is she." Lois tempered her pointed tone.

"Hello, Miss Lane." The voice began somewhat hesitantly. "My name is Ben Hubbard. I am a friend of Clark Kent's family. Martha gave me this number as a contact in case we ever needed to reach Clark and he didn't answer his phone." His voice trailed off into silence.

Her tone bristled again at the mention of Clark. "Ah I see. I take it Clark can't be bothered to answer his phone?" Lois' eyes traveled unconsciously over to Clark's empty desk.

"I'm afraid this line was to be used only in case of emergency."

Lois swallowed. "Of course, I'm sorry, Mr. Hubbard. What can I do for you today?"


	2. Bad Tidings

-1

_Bequest:_

_- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another. _

_- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest : Chapter Two - Bad Tidings**

The bank of televisions in the bullpen lit up with a news bulletin coming across the airwaves, interrupting the current broadcast. A northern wind had brought a violent storm across the Adriatic Sea, taking local tuna fishermen completely by surprise. The reporting cameras shook with the force of the wind even on the mainland, as the weather correspondent reported the situation which was rapidly growing critical.

"Anne, this day could have warranted much worse news, fortunately the majority of the local fishing vessels have returned shaken and stirred back to the harbor. However, there appears to be one vessel still unaccounted for.

About ten minutes ago, authorities lost radio contact with 'The Lilia Rosa' a ship that prior to the storm had been complaining of a broken rear propeller. Despite the thirty man crew, authorities are hesitant to send a rescue chopper, as the rain is still as you can see pounding and the gale force winds are still punishing the coast at sustained gusts of 80mph."

The anchor pushed his fingers against his ear in an effort to hear the update over the howling winds. "We are now receiving reports that 'The Lilia Rosa' has been picked up on radar just a click south of this very harbor. Reports say it is traveling at a fast and steady rate of speed-"

Behind the reporter, a blurry shadow against the wall of fog on the horizon. The frame shimmied and shook as the camera man began zooming in and out, panning frantically to get a better shot. Suddenly, the fog parted to reveal the Lilia Rosa floating ten feet off of the surface of the water. Her crew stood en masse on the deck, their faces upturned to the various ropes and lines stretching tightly above the sails around the form of Superman, who was bearing the weight of the vessel across his powerful shoulders, holding the ship balanced and steady as he guided her home.

Superman's brow was furrowed in concentration, his raven hair plastered against his forehead. He offered a distracted smile to the onlookers and there was a gasp from the crowd as the Man of Steel gingerly lowered the 'Lila Rosa' back into the water and tied her lines firmly to the dock.

"I can hardly believe what my eyes!" The reporter exclaimed. "Superman has just towed 'The Lilia Rosa' to port with an entrance that no one will ever forget. More on this story as it develops! Back to you Anne."

The Daily Planet newsroom exploded into activity as everyone ran to their posts to find an angle to write about. Perry stood amidst the chaos, barking orders to various staff members passing by.

"Get the family members of that crew on the phone. I don't care if you don't speak Italian! Learn it! Get me that interview! 'Heroics on the High Seas'… Richard! Run with that title for the international section!"

Lois sat motionless at her desk, her heart thundering in her ears. She'd tried Clark's cell a hundred times to no avail, now she knew why there had been no answer. Lois dreaded the moment he would walk through the door, but that didn't dissuade the fervor with which she waited.

Thirty minutes later, when Clark Kent returned to the newsroom after begging off to take his clothes to the dry cleaners, Lois rose to meet him.

Lois was the only one who noticed his slightly dampened hair and the look of quiet joy that lit his features celebrating more lives saved. His eyes were wide as he bent his ear toward Jimmy, who was excitedly imparting the morning's events. This was the latest of a thousand times Lois had watched this scene play out. But now she knew that the breaking news was ancient history to the man who had just lived it. She watched Clark reacting in humble excitement as Jimmy flitted off to proclaim the story of Superman's heroics to another coworker.

Lois' hands shook as she quickly made her way across the room. Clark had just settled into his chair and was jotting down some notes when she reached his desk.

"Clark..." her voice came out strained.

"Yes, Lois?" he answered softly.

His eyes met hers with trepidation and a glimmer of hopefulness. They had hardly spoken in the past few days. In their last conversation, her words had been harsh and hurtful, and from the look on his face, he was bracing for more of the same. And yet she would sooner have another argument than utter the words she was about to speak.

"Clark... Be..Ben Hubbard called while you were...out."

Clark's eyes snapped to attention and his expression grew serious at the tremor in her voice. "Is everything alright?" he asked cautiously.

Lois reflexively put her hand on his, she felt it tighten beneath hers, his eyes pierced hers in expectation.

"Your mother... had a stroke, Clark." Lois swallowed past the lump growing in her throat. "Ben said you should come out right away. The doctor doesn't think..." Lois stopped, unable to say what they both knew.

Clark was already on his feet, draping his coat again over his shoulders. His eyes were guarded as he processed the unthinkable. He cleared his throat. "I have to go. Tell Perry-"

"I told him you would be leaving as soon as we spoke. It's fine." Lois interjected, her heart aching at the worry and pain stretching across his features.

Clark nodded curtly and made his way out into the hall leading to the stairwell. Lois' hiked her purse onto her shoulder and ran after him, her heels clicked loudly as she followed him through the door. He was already loosening his tie when the door slammed behind her.

"Clark." Her voice was heavy with the burden of a thousand unspoken words. "I could come with you…"

Clark stopped and slowly turned to look at her. When his eyes met hers, his expertly placed defenses fell and in that moment he seemed to Lois like a lost little boy.

He regarded her with a mixture of emotions; fear, sorrow, guilt, gratitude, and love. Clark paused a moment and then he extended his hand to her wordlessly. Without hesitation Lois took Clark's hand, and squeezed it reassuringly. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest and the world around then was lost in a blur of motion.


	3. Martha

_Bequest:_

_- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another. _

_- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest : ****Chapter Three - **

The late spring wind was surprisingly warm against Lois' face as they soared west. The sun shone joyfully down on them and Lois noted the irony of such an awful event on such a beautiful day.

Lois looked at Clark out of the corner of her eye. They had been flying for almost ten minutes, crossing the landscape at an incredible rate of speed, and he had yet to say a single word. Her earlier anger lost out to concern. However she felt he had wronged her, she still cared deeply for the man holding her so gingerly in his powerful arms.

His cape flapped energetically against the wind as he picked up speed. Lois hadn't even realized he had changed, so quick had been the transformation. Lois peered down at the ground passing below them. The landscape was almost invisible through the clouds that concealed them and despite the dizzying height, she felt safe. At this moment her worried attention was fixed on Clark. She so badly wanted to protect him from the battle he was fighting behind his silent exterior.

Abundant cornfields appeared below them in an endless sea of green, preparing for the summer harvest. The crops gave way to a small town and Lois felt Clark shift their course. The ground grew closer as he descended beside the flat roof of what seemed to me a small hospital.

Clark's landing didn't make a sound as they gently landed behind a small concrete partition near the back entrance. He loosened his grasp on her and set her to her feet. Lois retrieved her heels from her purse and bent over to put them on. Standing on one foot she nearly lost her balance, until a strong steady hand closed around her elbow. When Lois lifted her head, her eyes met those of Clark Kent, now looking back at her from behind his familiar glasses.

"Thank you." she said softly.

He nodded and turned his attention toward the main door of the Smallville Medical Center. Clark seemed unsure of himself, chewing the inside of his lip, trying to hide his trembling hands in his pockets. Lois took his hand between hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Clark gave her a small grateful smile, his eyes flickering nervously behind his lenses.

Smallville Medical center was a small and unassuming building. Lined in mahogany the lobby gave a homey, comforting feeling as they made their way toward the nurse's station.

The lone nurse at the desk looked up and smiled gently at Clark as they approached.

"Hello, Clark." Her voice was warm, friendly.

"Hello, Molly." Clark replied.

She tilted her head sympathetically. "I imagine you're here to see your mother." At Clark's nod, she handed him a few sheets of paper. "Go ahead and sign these, and well get you upstairs. I'm glad you were able to get out here so quickly."

"He took the first flight out."

Lois turned to see an older gentleman standing in the entrance to the hallway. He extended his hand toward Lois. "Ben Hubbard, we spoke on the phone."

Lois smiled shyly, remembering her earlier behavior. "Of course, Mr. Hubbard. I'm sorry about earlier-"

But Ben waved his hand dismissively. "It was very kind of you to come in with Clark." His eyes fell on Clark while he signed the last of the forms. "We all can use someone who cares for us in times like this."

Ben stepped past Lois and put his arms around Clark's shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Hello, Clark." The strain of the past few hours began to show on his face. "It's so good to see you my boy."

"How is she?" Clark asked quietly, following Ben down the hall.

"Well, she is still unconscious, I'm afraid. Dr. Patterson said they'll know more once she wakes up."

"Are they confident they she'll-"

"It's so hard to say Clark. With these things there are never.." Ben coughed past the lump in his throat. "There are no guarantees." Ben stopped at the door on their right and pushed it open quietly.

The room was friendly and cozy in contrast to many of the hospital rooms Lois had seen. The blinds were up allowing the afternoon sun to fill the room with its warm golden light. Along the window sill, fresh flowers had been arranged to match the décor. There was a small television set hanging in the corner near the ceiling, an episode of 'I Love Lucy' played on mute. Next to the bed was a chair holding a rumpled suit jacket, beside it stood a small end table, a tattered old Bible laid on it's face to keep the page.

Lois looked over to Clark who's eyes were locked on the small bed against the wall. There laid Martha Kent beneath the crisp white hospital sheet that have been lovingly pulled up to her chin.

Clark crossed the room and stood beside the bed. He gently lifted his mother's hand, running his other hand gingerly over top her knuckles.

"Hi, Mom." he whispered hoarsely. His blue eyes were covered in a fine sheen of tears as Clark leaned forward and laid a kiss on Martha's forehead. He tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and sat down in the chair beside the bed.

Clark's eyes traveled over his mother's sleeping form with an intensity Lois had seen many times before in the eyes of his other persona.

"Can you see anything, Clark?" Ben asked hopefully, his weathered hands clasped tightly in front of him.

Lois looked up at Ben in surprise, her eyes then darted over to Clark, gauging his expression. Clark was quiet for a long moment then he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"Let's wait to speak to Dr. Patterson." His gaze met Ben's in a sorrow that was nearly palpable, his eyes betraying the information he had found.

At that moment there was a quiet knock on the door. A small sweet-faced man about Ben's age poked his head into the room.

"Clark! I thought I heard you were here." He crossed the room next to the chair where Clark was sitting.

Clark rose and embraced the older man.

"Lois, this is Dr. Patterson. He's been our family doctor as long as I can remember. Dr. Patterson, this is Lois Lane."

Dr. Patterson shook her hand warmly. "A great pleasure to meet you Miss Lane. I've read many of your articles. It's an honor indeed." He turned his attention to Clark. "Clark, if you don't mind I'd like to talk to you a bit about your mother's condition. I want to get you caught up and also I just received some test results I'd like to go over with you."

Clark looked over at Ben.

"Go ahead, son. I'll stay here and keep the ladies company. You can let me know when you come back." Ben swallowed thickly.

Clark nodded solemnly and followed Dr. Patterson out of the room.

Now alone, Ben smiled shakily at Lois. He picked up his Bible and wiped away a lone tear that had escaped from the corner of his eye. Ben turned his face towards Martha and read from the passage the book had been opened to.

"Love is patient. Love is kind.

Love does not envy, nor is it prideful.

It is not puffed up.

It does not behave rudely.

Love does not seek to have its own way…"

Lois lowered her gaze to look over at the still form in the bed. Martha appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Only the riot of tubes and wires betrayed the severity of her condition.

Lois' eyes traveled over the older woman's features. Martha's ever-present smile was replaced with a slack line of repose. Hazel eyes that normally sparkled mischievously were hidden by her closed lids. Lois sighed sadly. She had been fortunate enough to get to know Martha Kent over the past year or so and it was painful to see Martha's vitality replaced by such stillness. . _How much more so must it be for Clark? _ She mused.

-------------------------------------------------

When Clark had returned from what at the time Lois had believed to be a overseas trip, Martha had begun making regular trips out to Metropolis. She would come to the Planet to see Clark, many times bearing small gifts for Jason, causing Lois to believe her visits were more to see him than Clark.

Lois had protested at first and Martha had said;_ "Indulge an old lady in lavishing her attention on such a sweet and special boy."_ Her eyes had twinkled as she looked over to Clark. _"My son hasn't brought any grandchildren of mine home as of yet_." Clark had blushed crimson under his mother's gaze and ducked his head behind a stack of papers.

Lois thoroughly enjoyed her visits. She enjoyed hearing story after story of Clark's childhood on the farm in Kansas.

Martha had a youthful spirit and a kind heart. As the months passed, the kindly woman had formed an uncommonly bond with her son. Jason always looked forward to seeing Martha and asked Clark about her often.

"_Can I come to your farm, Clark?" Jason asked._

_Clark smiled widely. "Maybe! You could come visit over the summer."_

"_Do I get a say in this?" Lois questioned with a raised eyebrow._

"_If it's okay with your mother." Clark added quickly._

Lois delighted in her son's fondness for Martha. She herself had never been particularly close to her own parents, and she was happy to see her son have people who loved him outside of their little family unit.

-------------------------------------------------

A soft smiled touched Lois' lips at the memories.

Lois trained her eyes on the television; Lucy was stomping grapes with another woman. Lois could almost hear the laugh track playing over the hijinks as they ensued. But her mind traveled to Ben's earlier question. She shifted her gaze to see Ben looking at her quizzically from over the top of his Bible.

"You know about Clark." Lois stated her observation quietly.

Ben nodded slowly.

"How long have you known?"

Ben pulled the small ribbon from the back of his Bible, pulling it down through the pages, he closed the book and turned his attention fully on her.

"I'd say about seven months now."

"How did you know I-"

Ben's eyes twinkled at her confused face. "My dear, Clark got here very quickly and that doesn't surprise me, he always does. But this is the first time he's brought someone with him. That tells me two things. You must have taken the same flight…" he smiled warmly. "and he must care for you very deeply if he let you in on his life like this."

Lois folded her hands into her lap, studying her fingers.

"When Clark was gone all of those years, Martha and I grew to be very close. To tell you the truth, I've loved her since we were in high school together. But Jonathan, that's Clark's father, was my best friend since I was a boy." Ben's eyes clouded over at the memory. "When Jonathan passed away and Clark moved to the big city, I just wanted to be a friend to her. Help her with the farm a bit. It's only been over the last few years she saw fit to love me too."

Lois nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"Martha loves her son as if he was her own flesh. She protects that boy with a ferocity I've rarely seen in a mother. The secret she keeps is one she guards with her life. If anything happens -" Ben cleared his throat before he continued. "You and I are the guardians of her secret now. Now, you and I have been blessed to have the trust of some of the finest people God ever put on this planet, it's not something to be taken lightly. I know you will guard it in the way it needs to guarded. I have no doubt you're worthy of that trust or Clark wouldn't love you as much as he does."

Ben's eyes searched hers carefully, his expression serious. Lois met his gaze straight on. When he seemed to find what he was looking for, he smiled softly and picked up his Bible and turned once again to Martha.

"Love keeps no record of wrongs.

It does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things and endures all things.

Love never fails."


	4. Valediction

**Bequest :** Chapter Four – Valediction

The sun was beginning to set when Clark returned to the room. Lois' eyes flew to the doorway and she took in Clark's appearance.

He looked at as someone had pulled the last ounce of strength from his body. Clark's face was pale. His features were gaunt and his shoulders were hunched forward in a self protective manner. Clark's usually neat hair was tousled from the countless times his worried fingers had passed through it.

Ben looked at Clark in gentle expectation, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. Dr. Patterson appeared in the door way behind Clark and motioned for everyone to sit.

Lois listened as Dr. Patterson put to words what their frightened hearts already knew.

"She's not responding as well as we might have hoped. Her body is trying to repair itself and that is what is causing the coma." He began quietly. "The initial stroke caused severe damage, but we remained hopeful. However, throughout the night, Martha suffered a series of mini strokes. This compounded the results from the first."

Clark's eyes fell to the bed, when his gaze reached his mother's face, his composure slipped momentarily, the depth of his agony playing out across his features.

"But…the coma…if she is healing-" Ben started, his voice quivering as her pressed his fingers against his mouth.

Dr. Patterson regarded them gravely. "I'm so sorry. With this amount of damage, there isn't much more we can do than keep her comfortable."

Ben lowered his head, his face hidden from Lois's view. His small shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. Lois rose, crossed the room and knelt beside him, she covered his hand with her own and rubbed his back. Her eyes overflowed and tears ran unchecked down her cheeks.

Lois lifted her eyes to Clark who was staring out the window. His expression was carefully guarded, his jaw was set. The light of the setting sun glittered off the tears in his eyes.

Dr. Patterson put his hand on Clark's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, son." He said quietly, looking as helpless as Lois felt. With one final look of sorrow, older man left, closing the door quietly behind him with a click.

They remained this way for the better part of an hour. No one spoke, the severity of the circumstance hung oppressively in the air. Ben was slumped in his chair, leaning heavily on his hand. He looked as if he would collapse with weariness. Clark hadn't said a word since he'd returned to the room, his eyes fell to his mother, remaining fixed there as if he was trying to will her to consciousness.

"Ben, you've been here all night. You need to get some rest." Lois said, squeezing his hand gently.

Ben looked at her through bleary eyes filled with sorrow, his expression unsure.

Lois nodded. "Clark and I will be here. Just give yourself a few hours of sleep. We'll call if there is any change..."

Ben stole a glance at Clark, whose attention remained welded to his mother's sleeping form. He returned his gaze to Lois and with a sigh, he nodded his ascent.

Lois patted Ben gently on the back as he gathered his suit coat into his arms. She cast another worried glance at Clark. This time, his gaze met hers and his eyes broadcasted his anguish.

"I'll walk you out." Lois said, sensing Clark's need to be alone with his mother.

Ben gave her a small smile

Lois' hand touched Clark's shoulder as she and Ben crossed the room toward the door.

"I'm going to go make a few calls. I'll be down in the lounge if you need me."

Clark nodded and covered her fingers with his.

"Thank you."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"_Clark Jerome Kent. God gave you this life, these abilities for a reason. I won't be your excuse to hide from the world. Yes, it's changed while you've been away, but there are still people who need you. You are a symbol of hope, and with all this planet has been through over the last five years, people need to believe in something again." _

When he'd come home, the crushing pressure of the needs of the world had given him a lapse in confidence. In faith. His body had healed quickly, but his doubts of his relevance and necessity were not as easily overcome.

So much had changed and this world was different from the one he'd left. He'd only been half serious when he told his mother he could have the farm back in working order within the week.

But Martha Kent would have none of it. His mother had always been there to remind him who he was in the times when he'd forgotten. And she'd been there to kick him in the pants when he needed it too…

Suddenly, Clark was snapped back to reality. He could have sworn he'd heard her voice.

Clark looked down. His mother's eyes remained closed, her was breathing even. He sighed, and rose, straightening the pillow and pulling the comforter higher onto her chest. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

He brushed her hair away from her face and sat down once again in the chair beside the bed.

_What would he ever do without her?_

"I've never thought of a world without you in it. Even with all my abilities, I've always thought of you as the stronger one. If I was strong, you were invincible. You took on the burden of my secret with such grace. When I felt like I was sinking, you never wavered. You've always been the solid ground for me to stand on. No matter what planet I was born on, you've always been my home."

The pillow case crinkled softly and Clark's eyes widened as Martha's head turned slowly toward him. Her eyes were full of tears and love as she searched his face.

Martha's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to reach for him and found her hand too heavy to move. Clark's hand skimmed across the bed and he took Martha's lifeless hand in his. His own hands trembled as he brought her hand to his lips.

"Hi, Ma…" He whispered in exclamation. Clark smiled gently as he kissed the back of her hand. "We sent Ben home to get some rest. He hasn't left your side. Lois is downstairs making calls."

Martha's questioning eyebrows were in perfect health and they raised at the mention of Lois. Clark kissed her knuckles and smiled, elated to see his mother's eyes looking at him again, even in this teasing manner.

"I told her, Ma. Everything."

Martha's lip twitched up into a smile and her eyes danced with the all knowing smugness that could only come from a loving mother. Clark returned her smile.

"You had us pretty worried. Dr. Patterson is taking good care of you. I'll call Ben and Lois back, they'll be so happy you're awake."

Martha's eyes blinked heavily, her energy waning.

"I love you."

Clark squeezed her hand.

She swallowed thickly. Her lip turned up again in a half smile and Clark felt a gentle pressure as she tried to squeeze his hand in response.

Her eyes drooped closed. . A seed of panic crept into Clark's stomach. He watched her chest rise and fall rhythmically as she fell asleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Thirty minutes later Lois returned to the room to find Clark sitting against the wall beneath the window, lost in thought. His tie was loose and his knees were drawn into his chest as he stared off into space.

"I brought coffee." Lois raised her caffeine bearing hands in greeting. She crossed the room, dropping her purse into the empty chair by the wall.

Lois handed Clark his coffee.

"Thanks." He smiled the first real smile she'd seem from him all day.

"Mind if I pull up a floor?" She asked.

Clark straightened out one leg to make room for her. Lois took off her shoes and sat on the floor beside him. The coolness of the wall and the tile sinking through her clothes was juxtaposed by Clark's ever-radiating warmth.

"She woke up." He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Lois' eyes widened in surprise, "She did!? That's WONDERFUL, Clark!" Her gaze flew to Martha's now sleeping figure.

"She didn't seem like she could talk, but she smiled at me. I got to talk to her a bit before she fell asleep…"

Clark put down his coffee and picked a bit of dust off of the knee of his slacks. He began to chew the inside of his lip. Lois saw worry seep into his eyes.

Lois reached out, brushing his fingers with her own. She scooted closer to him and intertwined her fingers with his. She couldn't tell him not to worry, or that everything would be alright. Because she just didn't know what was to come. All she could do for him right now was hold his hand and pray for the best.

But one thing she did know, as she leaned her head against his shoulder, was that whatever happened, they would face it together.


	5. Legacy

**Bequest :** Chapter Five – Legacy

_The sky was beginning to lighten and soon the sun would to peek over the high cornstalks of the late spring. Birds flitted from stalk to stalk, calling excitedly to each other as they discovered the abundance of food among the dying crop. It had been nearly a month since the last rain and the effects were ever more apparent on the withering plants._

_The wooden porch swing groaned beneath his weight as he gently rocked back and forth. Clark wrapped the long sleeved flannel more tightly around his body. He wore it more for appearances than necessity. But wearing it always seemed to comfort him. It had been a gift from his mother to his father and Clark scarcely remembered a week that had gone by where his father hadn't worn it._

_Things seemed so uncertain now, one of the anchors or his life was gone, and he felt himself drifting aimlessly in circles, unsure of what direction to take._

_He'd heard her coming long before the screen door creaked and announced her arrival. Without a word, she sat beside him. His hand reflexively reached for hers and their fingers intertwined. They had become so much closer in their mutual loss. _

_His father been gone almost six months. In a moment, he'd lost his role model and confidante, she, the rock and love of her life._

_Clark's eyes lifted to regard the sky. The frail wisps of clouds drifted lazily past the farm, without hint of moisture on the horizon. Perhaps the clouds, like he, had no more tears to cry._

_Clark had graduated high school a week ago and his mother had made a big fuss, trying just for one day to shake the dust from their lives and gain a glimpse at a future that seemed so unthinkable without Jonathan Kent._

_A windstorm had rumbled through the farm last night, scattering their rickety old fence posts all over the property. Clark had been doing everything he could to keep the farm in working order, just as it had been when his father was alive._

"_I'll repair the fences today." He said quietly._

_Martha's hand tightened around his. _

"_No." Her voice broke slightly as she let go of his hand and covered her pursed lips._

"_Ma?" Clark turned toward her, searching her face intently._

"_Clark. You can't, you can't stay here with me forever. You have so much to give. It's time for you to be a part of the world you've been sent to."_

"_I am a part of the world. I have you…" He trailed off. "The farm…" Clark looked at her with wide eyes, "I can't just leave you here alone."_

"_Clark, I will be fine. The farm will be fine. Your father left enough money to hire people for the work and Ben is going to come and help me oversee everything." She halted her tirade at Clark's hurt expression._

_She turned on the bench and took his face into her hands. _

"_My darling boy. I love you so much. I'm proud of the man you've grown into, and nothing would make me happier than to see you go and fulfill the destiny you've been created for. There is a world out there looking for hope and you can bring it, son. But you're not doing them any good staying here taking care of an old lady."_

"_But-"_

"_And it's not like you'll have trouble visiting." She smiled tearfully at him as she wiped a tear from the corner of his eye._

_Clark covered her hand with his and leaned into her embrace. Martha wrapped her tiny arms around his frame and rocked him as she had a thousand times before when he'd been growing up. _

Lois wiped a tear from her own cheek.

What a remarkable woman Martha Kent was, sending her son into a world that needed him so desperately with no thought for herself. _She sent him straight into my life…_ Lois mused. She sent up a silent thanks for a mother's gift and sacrifice.

Lois turned to look at Clark, whose head was leaning back against the wall, living in the memories of his mother's bravery.

"She took me into the house and opened her old sewing bag." His face stretched into a toothy grin. "Inside, she had taken material from the ship I came to earth in and sewn my first suit." His hand fell unconsciously to his chest, running over the loving embroidery beneath his outer shirt. He chuckled softly and rested his head back against the wall. "It was so tight, at first I refused to even try it on."

Lois grinned at the thought of Clark's first fitting.

"But I walked out of my room and the look on my mother's face…" He coughed over the lump in his throat. "I knew it would always be a part of me."

"She must be so proud of you, Clark."

"I hope so. I remember the sun actually came over the horizon just as we stepped onto the porch. We walked out towards the corn field, and it was amazing, being outside in the suit for the first time. The sunlight seemed to soak right through the material and I was filled will this unbelievable energy and excitement. I took off into the sky, the butterflies in my stomach probably did more flying than I did in that moment." He smiled wider. "But I can still hear my mother's whisper-"

"_Go, son. Begin your legacy…"_

Clark raised his head suddenly, listening intently, his eyes flying to his mother's bed. He was on his feet in a flash and at his mother's side before Lois knew what was happening.

"Lois. Hit the emergency button! Now!"

Before she could question him, the vitals monitor began to flash red.

Seconds later, the room was flooded with nurses and attending physicians.

"BP is dropping!"

"Call Dr. Patterson!"

"Pulse rate is 60 over 37 and dropping!"

"I need a crash cart!"

"Starting CPR!"

One nurse turned to them. Even her kind tone did not mask her fear. "We need you to step outside for a moment."

"Is my mother-" Clark's eyes were wide with fear, taking in everything happening in the room.

"We're going to do everything we can." She gently guided them out the door.

Lois turned as the door closed behind them. The chaos of the room beyond was muffled and all but silent behind the door.

For her.

She looked to Clark, whose face was a mask of fear and helplessness. His eyes were shining with tears as they followed the movements of the medical staff through the wall. Lois entwined her arms around his waist and gently turned him to face the other direction.

Clark's arms wrapped around her and she was nearly lost in the dwarfing size of him. He leaned against her as if she was all that was keeping him standing.

"There are some things you shouldn't have to see, Clark."


	6. Rescue

**Bequest :** Chapter Six

Clark stood in numb silence against the wall. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, listening with such intensity that a layer of sweat formed on his brow.

It has been ten minutes and ten seconds since he had heard his mother's heart beat. Since he heard Dr. Patterson's tear filled voice quietly proclaiming the time of death. But still Clark stood in perfect stillness, waiting to hear just one more beat.

His own heart seemed to thunder in his ears in conflict with the absolute stillness of his body.

So intent was he on his task, he didn't hear Lois speaking to him until she touched his arm.

"Clark…"

As he opened his eyes, the accumulated tears fell to his cheeks, blurring his vision of the stark white hallway and Lois' concerned face. His chest was tight and he struggled to take a full breath. He would gladly endure another mountain of kryptonite then this moment.

"Clark…" Lois' fingers brushed a tear from his lashes, resting her cool palm against his burning cheek. "Dr. Patterson said we could go in…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lois studied Clark's face and cringed at the agony she saw there. He said nothing as she took his hand and crossed that hallway into Martha's room.

The room was somewhat tidy, the rumpled sheets on the bed and the absence of the vitals monitor were the only indications of the chaos that had filled the room only moments before. On the bed, Martha's form lay still, her hands had been folded over her midsection in a quiet repose.

Clark's hand tightened momentarily and then let go of hers.

His head tilted suddenly and Lois recognized the familiar distant look.

"I have to go." he said quietly.

Lois recaptured his hand. "Clark. You **don't **have to. " she exclaimed, cursing the timing of whatever event was calling for his attention at this dark time.

"I know." he whispered. His eyes traveled across the room and fixed on his mother's face. He stepped forward and for a moment, the barest hint of a smile briefly touched his lips as he brushed a kiss across his mother's forehead.

Lois opened her mouth to speak, but stopped at the look of quiet determination on his face. Clark's fingers slipped from hers, and he was gone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Clark Kent!" Martha exclaimed in a hushed whisper, tearing the large bag of pork rinds from her son's hand. "Just because you won't gain weight no matter what you eat, doesn't mean you have to eat that trash!"_

_Clark smiled indulgingly and followed as his mother gave him a stern look then turned her attention to the well stocked shelves of the small corner grocery on Main street. She grabbed a few healthier choices and Clark grimaced dramatically. _

_Martha batted him gently with a loaf of rye bread encased in cellophane and tossed it into the cart. "Don't give me any lip, young man! You may be grown but you could still find yourself over my knee!"_

_Clark laughed out loud and planted a noisy kiss on his mother's cheek and looked down into the cart he was pushing with disdain._

_Martha in the past had loved to cook meals fit for a small army whenever he came to visit. Clark had enjoyed the greasy abundance of home cooked Midwestern meals. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd thanked God that his alien metabolism allowed him to eat an entire chocolate cake by himself and not gain a pound. He always ate what was set before him with pleasure, and Martha always enjoyed watching him enjoy his meal with a somewhat jealous glint in her eye._

_Then one day, Ben had been watching CNN and somehow the two of them had ended up enamored with the idea of all organic food. Clark grinned inwardly, remembering his mother's expression when he'd landed on the back porch with a bag of Cheetos._

"_How can you have grown up on a farm and eat powdered cheese??" Ben had asked him, his kindly face twisted in a dramatic scowl._

_Clark and his taste buds hoped this was as short a phase as Martha and Ben's weekly water-aerobics class at the YMCA downtown that had lasted all of two weeks when Ben found out that the swim caps pulled out what little hair he **did** have left_

_Still food shortcomings aside, Ben was great for his mother. He made her laugh and didn't pout too badly when she beat him in Scrabble. Ben also watched over her in a way that made Clark feel like his mother was cared for while he was out watching the rest of the world._

_Martha pulled a few bills out of her purse and Clark eased past her to bag the groceries. With a smile to the clerk, he gave his mother his arm and pushed the cart out to the truck. _

"_Tonight I am going to make Ben's favorite! Organic Spinach puffs!" Martha chatted along happily as Clark put the last back into the truck bed and tied it securely. "And don't think I didn't see that face! You're not the only one with x-ray vision!" she laughed._

_Suddenly Clark grew still, listening to something his mother couldn't hear._

_Clark came around the side of the truck and handed Martha the keys. _

"_Mom, I have to go. There is a tornado in South Dakota. I need to get there before it touches down."_

"_Mmhmm sure." she accepted his kiss on the cheek skeptically. "I'll save you a plate." She hopped into the truck and turned the ignition._

_Clark was already out of sight but he laughed out loud when he heard her mutter; "That tornado better end up on the news, or that boy is getting two helpings!"_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cornfields of his hometown flashed by in a blur beneath Clark as he raced above the landscape. Behind him he heard the thunder of the sound barrier being broken as he pushed east.

The distress signal coming from below, jolted him out of his memories.

Clark's hearing expanded and he scanned the ground. He passed the border of Ohio into Fairview, West Virginia where a coal mine had suffered an explosion and a collapse, trapping morning crew beneath a mile of earth and rock.

As Clark approached the site, authorities hadn't yet arrived and the companies overseer was sitting near his post. He was covered in soot and coal debris. He was in such shock that he barely reacted when Clark landed next to him.

Clark scanned the ground beneath, his view was hazy due to the amount of led in the hillside. He knelt down and put his hand on the overseer's knee.

"What's your name?" The man didn't immediately respond. Clark snapped his fingers in front of the man's face.

"M...Mitch." The man said almost inaudibly.

"Ok, Mitch. I need you to help me a bit here. How many people are in the mine?"

"Seven…or eight? I don't know I can't remember, there was so much noise. So much dust, I don't know, I don't kn-"

"Okay Mitch," Clark laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The authorities are a few miles away and should be here in a few minutes. I'm going to down and see what I can do."

Just then there was a loud rumbling as the loose contents of the mine began to fall and settle in more tightly. Clark turned around to see the entire entrance of the mine had collapsed.

In a flash Clark began to clear the debris, moving so quickly the loose rocks didn't have time to settle more precariously.

The air was black with coal dust and smoke. Behind the wall of rock, Clark could see the flashing of distant flames. Clark was a blur of motion as he sifted his way further and further into the mine.

He found the first man laying on his face near the entrance. Clark scanned quickly over his body, everything seemed to be intact, his unconsciousness seemingly from smoke inhalation. Clark cradled the unconscious man gently in his arms and made his way out to the surface.

A crowd was beginning to gather and the Ambulances came screaming to a stop just beyond the perimeter of the mine.

An EMT trotted over, a gurney in tow.

"This man seems to be alright for the most part. He seems to have inhaled a lot of smoke."

The EMT nodded and Clark returned to the mine.

One after another he emerged, counting as he went. _Six… Seven._ The injuries were getting to be more severe.

Boulders fell continuously as more ground gave way. He was running our of time.

Clark braced the next victim's broken arm against his chest. The man groaned in his stupor but did not wake up as he laid him on the gurney.

He looked up at the crowd of concerned loved ones and onlookers. Clark saw Mitch sitting on the edge of a flatbed truck, an EMT administering oxygen.

"Is that everyone?" Clark asked, his hearing focused on the mine.

"I…I..think so?" Mitch looked unsure.

"Jacob? Jacob!?" A woman's voice was heard over the general buzz of the crowd. "Has anyone seen my son? Jacob?" A stout woman with salt and pepper hair in loose bun searched frantically through the crowd. When her frightened eyes fell on Clark, she broke into a run. "Oh Superman! Thank goodness! Did you rescue my son? He's nineteen, as tall as you but skinny…" she gestured wildly, her panic growing.

Clark stepped toward the woman, "I don't think I saw him in there ma'am." The woman's eyes shone with fresh tears. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "But I won't come back without him."

"Oh thank you! Thank you." She squeezed his hand. "Bless you."

Clark nodded seriously and turned back to the mine.

The air was dank with the smell of burning coal and plastic. Clark sped into the mine past the debris he'd already cleared. He scanned every room with his x-ray vision and darted in and out of the rooms too thick with lead to see through.

There was no sign of Jacob.

Suddenly there was a hiss and a ball of fire roared toward him. Various gas emissions were combining with the small flames on the floor, causing bursts of fire throughout the mine. _I need to hurry._ Clark thought. _Those flames are sucking up the oxygen in this mine with every flare up. _

Clark lifted off the ground a few inches so as not to disturb the remainder of the precariously situated debris and made his way through the ever-narrowing tunnel.

He was about to declare the mine empty when his eye caught a flash of metal. Clark dashed over to a pile of boulders that had accumulated during the collapses. A dirty and bruised hand hung limply from one of the crevices. Clark began to pull away the boulders as quickly and gently as he dared. Little by little more of the boy appeared. He scanned the boy's still form.

No heartbeat.

_No._ Clark cried out silently. _Not today._

He pulled Jacob's body from the carnage and laid him flat on the ground. He applied five quick compressions to the boy's chest and breathed into his mouth.

_Come on._

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five._

_Breathe. Breathe._

"Jacob! Come on Jacob! Stay with me."

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five._

_Breathe. Breathe._

_Come ON!_

Clark pressed again Jacob's chest, trying not to let his fear translate into strength on the boy's already battered body.

_Four. Five._

_Breathe!_

For the second time that day, Clark listened for a heartbeat.

This time, faintly… it came.

Breathing a sigh of relief, and shaking to his very core, Clark gathered Jacob into his arms and exited the mine for the last time.

The crowd erupted into wild cheers and applause when he emerged from the mine. EMTs encircled him immediately, seeing to Jacob's vitals.

Clark looked over the boys lanky frame.

"He has some pretty severe bone bruises and there are two cracked ribs but all in all I'd say he was lucky. The mine is pretty well collapsed, but there is no one else inside."

"A miracle!" Jacob's mother came running from the within the crowd, tears streaming down her face. She ran to her son's side, weeping and kissing his face.

After relaying the damage reports of the mine to the overseers and powers that be; Clark pulled back from the crowds watched the reunions. Sons embraced their parents, fathers clinging tightly to their children. Any problems from the day forgotten as they held those they loved close to them, grateful for one more chance to do so.

Clark blinked, surprised to find tears in his own eyes. He surveyed the area, seeing his work was done he turned to fly away.

"Superman?" A timid voice spoke behind him.

Clark's boot returned to the ground and he turned to see Jacob's mother standing before him, her hands clutched in front of her.

"My name is Maryanne Walters. Jacob's mom."

Clark smiled and nodded.

"Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on my son. I don't know if I'd have gotten him back if it hadn't been for you. I wish there was some way I could repay you."

"It was my honor Ms. Walters. I'm sure he'll be as good as new in no time at all."

"Maryanne. Please!" She reached into her pocket and produced a clean white handkerchief. Maryanne stepped forward and wiped a bit of soot from Clark's cheek.

Clark started at the maternal gesture, remembering the times his mother had done this very thing for him when he was a boy. A sudden wave of loss crashed down on him so strongly he turned his head away.

"Thank you." he whispered, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Maryanne reached up and wiped away the tear streaking through the dirt on Clark's face.

"You're welcome." Maryanne folded the hanky and put it back in her pocket and laid her small hand on his forearm. "It's alright." Maryanne's southern accent drawled gently.

"I lost my mother tonight." The words fell like a rush of water, uncontrolled from his heart to his mouth. Clark nearly gasped in the shock that he'd spoken those words to a total stranger.

Maryanne looked up at him in surprise at such a personal confession. Her surprised melted away to understanding, and then sympathy.

"I'm sorry." Clark coughed roughly and composed himself, taking a step back.

"Sugar, I don't care how many planes you put down in baseball fields, you're as human as any one of us. So, don't you ever apologize for something like that. " Maryanne stepped forward and wrapped her plump arms around his midsection.

Clark returned the hug somewhat awkwardly at first and then gave Maryanne's shoulders a quick squeeze before she released him.

"You rescued me from the very pain you're going through tonight, and there's no amount of thank you's I can say to express my gratitude. I know we probably won't cross paths again, but I'll tell you this, you have one more person remembering you in her prayers."

Maryanne bent down and picked up a small piece of coal from the ground and handed it to him. Clark looked at her in confusion. "You hold on to that and think of what you did here today. And remember it's the pressures of life that turn a lump of coal into a diamond."

Clark nodded, genuinely touched by the gesture.

"Anytime you find yourself hungry and flying over West Virginia, you swoop on down to Maryanne's kitchen. I'll feed ya so well you're boots won't fit!"

Clark laughed in spite of himself.

"Thank you."

And with that he lifted off into the night sky, the weight on his shoulders somehow a bit lighter.


	7. Reality

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy._

**Bequest :** Chapter Seven – Reality

_Lois reclined in her kitchen chair with her arms draped lazily behind her head. She grinned mischievously across the room at Clark who was standing in the doorway with a look of dread on his face as Martha Kent was spun another story from his childhood. _

"…_so I told him, 'Clark, the vent in the bathroom is not a toy! You use it after showers only! If you turn it on with no water in the air, it'll suck you up instead." Martha wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes. "Oh, Lois, I never dreamed he'd believe me! One day Jonathan and I came home from the farmer's market to find that Clark had duct taped himself to the door jam so he wouldn't be sucked into the air duct when he turned on the bathroom fan!"_

_The room erupted in laughter, save for Clark who was scowling dramatically at his mother, his ears and cheeks red with embarrassment._

_Lois grabbed her sides, laughing heartily at the image of a young Clark Kent bonded to the bathroom door jam with duct tape. _

_Clark sighed cartoonishly and gathered the lunch dishes from the table and carried them over to the sink. "Mother don't you have any __**nice**__ stories to tell? Ones that highlight what a shining example of obedience and virtue I was as a child?" His eyes sparkled behind his glasses._

_Martha patted his arm indulgingly. "I'm sorry Clark. Everyone in Smallville has already heard these stories a hundred times over. I get excited when I find new ears to bend."_

_Lois bit back a smile as Clark tossed the dishrag into the sink rubbed his face with his hands._

"_Come on Jason, let's go try out that 'Guitar Hero' game my mother brought you." Clark said, putting a hand on Jason's small shoulder._

_At his mother's nod, Jason jumped up from his seat and walked out of the kitchen with Clark. _

"_But Clark, you're awful at that game." Jason whispered._

"_Hey! Whose side are you on? Get me outta here!"_

_With a grin, Jason grabbed Clark by the hand and dragged him down the hall to the living room._

_Martha's eyes lovingly followed the boys as they exited._

"_You __**must**__ bring Jason out to visit the farm, Lois. He'll love it there. We have all kinds of animals to play with, and Ben will show him how to milk a cow!" Martha leaned toward the door to see if Clark was still in earshot. "And I'll show you the door jam by the bathroom, that duct tape took the varnish clean off."_

"_MOTHER!!!"_

_Clark's voice came from living room followed by a series of blips and bloops from the gaming console as it powered up._

_Lois let out a laugh and crossed the kitchen to the coffee maker. She lifted the coffee pot and refilled both of their mugs._

"_That may not be such a bad idea, Martha." Lois poured a bit of cream into each of the steaming cup. Her spoon clinked along the ceramic edges as she finished stirring. Lois put the spoon into her mouth placed Martha's drink on the table. "We could use some time away."_

_Martha sipped her coffee and nodded in understanding._

_Lois dipped her spoon back into her coffee, swirling the liquid aimlessly. That was the understatement of the year. _

_Things had grown increasingly tense with Richard. They'd started fighting over every issue but the one at hand. She felt Richard's accusing eyes on her back every time she went into Perry's office with another story about a certain superhero. _

_Maybe it was all in Richard's mind at first, but the rift between them grew with every story, every rooftop meeting. Lois tried to rationalize that it was her job that she couldn't help that Superman came to her with the exclusives. Perhaps Richard had know before she, that her heart had never been returned to her when she'd given it away all those years ago._

_Lois hadn't been surprised the day Richard had packed up his things and moved in with Perry. She'd been too exhausted to put up much of a fight. There was nothing left to fight for._

_Lois exhaled and Martha reached across the table to squeeze her hand. In this time, Martha had been as great a confidant as her son. Maybe there was something in the water in Kansas that made the Kents such good listeners. _

The tire slipping into a particularly deep pothole jolted Lois from her thoughts.

She sat sandwiched between Clark and Ben in the tiny front seat of Ben's truck, as it meandered down the unpaved road toward the Kent farm. Lois had never been there before and had the circumstances been different, she would have been excited to see the home where Clark Kent had grown up.

Lois cast a side long glance at Clark, who was staring unseeingly out the window. He only returned to the hospital about thirty minutes ago. Lois had called Ben with the news about Martha. He'd arrived in no time at all and Lois' eyes stung with tears at the look on the older man's face when he'd come through door to the hospital room.

He'd gone in to see Martha one last time and Lois stayed behind in the lobby pretending to read a magazine. Ben and Dr. Patterson had returned at the same time Clark had entered through the front doors of the hospital.

The trio had talked quietly about funeral arrangements and other sorrowful business and Lois had stood to the side, her heart breaking for the pain so clear on each man's face.

The truck came to a gentle stop in front of a faded yellow farmhouse. Age had not dimmed the welcoming demeanor of the humble farm. The picket fences intertwined with a multitude of flowers, drawing the eyes to the porch, complete with a suspended porch swing that even now called for someone to come and sit on it.

The truck door groaned in protest as Clark opened it and slid out onto the gravel walkway. Lois turned to Ben and laid a kiss on his cheek and squeezed his arm.

Ben smiled sadly and covered her hand with his. His eyes looked past her to Clark.

"I'll be back in the morning around 9am. We'll meet Ned about the arrangements around then."

Clark swallowed thickly and managed a nod.

Lois gave Ben's arm one more pat and closed the door to the truck behind her. When she turned around, Clark was a few yards ahead of her walking aimlessly across the wide expanse of farm. Lois hesitated a moment before setting off after him. She caught up with him in the barn and found him regarding a weather plow with a blank expression. He stood there for a few minutes and ran a hand lovingly over the aged, scuffed metal. A trace of a smile touched his lips.

"My father taught me to use this." he said quietly. "He used to say; 'I know you could do it faster with your bare hands, boy, but some things shouldn't be done at super-speed.' He taught me to take pride in a job that takes all day. I was young and I always wanted to do things faster because I could. 'You try and use your power to get milk out of poor Inga and she'll break her hoof off that steel jaw of yours. I'm fairly sure giving milk isn't one of your abilities so you just take her easy' " 

Lois laughed softly at the image of Clark trying to super-milk a cow.

Clark's eyes were distant, as he played the memory over in his mind.

"We'd come home at the end of the day laughing, smiling and stinking to high heaven. Then Mom would-"

His voice trailed off and Lois saw the reality of the week's events come crashing through the wall he'd been building over the last few days. Clark's hands balled into fists at his sides and he squeezed his eyes shut, but not before a tear escaped from the corner and made its way down his cheek. He stood silent, bracing himself, holding his breath. When his breath finally returned, all the anguish he'd been bottling up for days finally found release.

Clark let out a cry so loud Lois swore the rafters of the barn shook. His eyes were blind with pain as he stalked across the barn toward the columbine that was covered by a tarp in storage for the winter. His agony manifested in a kick that threw the heavy machinery into the air against the wall with a weighty thud. Just as quickly his face contorted in a mask of sorrow so powerful, Lois felt as if her own heart would break. Tears filled his eyes and overcame him.

"I can't..." His voice choked as he collapsed to the floor in a sob.

"Shh." Lois ran to his side and threw her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could. "You can, Clark." she whispered. "I'm here." She ran her hand soothingly over his hair. "You're not alone."

They sat that way for a long time on the floor of the barn. The most powerful man in the world, wetted her blouse with his tears, his great shoulders racked with sobs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held onto her as if she were his lifeline. And Lois held him, keeping him afloat while he worked through his anguish.

Little by little his breathing evened, his shoulders stilled, and Lois could feel the slow steady beat of his heart against her shoulder.

"I can't fight this, Lois." Clark whispered. "With everything else in my life, there has always been something to be defeated, justice to be done, some action I can take to make things right." He drew his breath in shakily. "I don't... know how to overcome this."

Lois pulled away from him gently, lovingly wiping a tear away that traveled down his soaked cheek. "This is how you overcome it. Right now. You cry and you grieve. And then you think of all the wonderful things she taught you. You revere her strength and her character, and laugh at memories from your life. Then you cry some more. And give time a way to put your heart back together again, piece by piece. Then you stand up and honor her by living the happy life she wanted so much to see you live.

When you do that, she's never really gone."


	8. Reaching

**Bequest :** Chapter Eight - Reaching

Clark was exhausted from the events of the day and in this fragile peace, the slicing pain of his loss swirled at a low tide. The sun had long since set and he found himself still on the floor of the barn within the comforting circle of Lois' arms. Her hand ran rhythmically over his hair, her fingers sliding through the locks and letting them fall strand by strand back into place. Her slow, steady breathing hypnotized him, becoming the focus of his attention.

Clark floated on the swell and fall of each breath, trying not to focus on any one thought. He found when he did it would build until it rushed through him rising from his heart until it materialized in his eyes, spilling onto his cheeks.

At such moments, Lois instinctively would hold him closer. Her heartbeat pulsed against his chest, and his rose to meet hers as the space between them disappeared. Clark felt her shiver against him and he drew back his head to meet her eyes.

He hadn't noticed the drop in temperature since the sun had set. All the same, the air in had cooled as the evening breeze traveled through the slatted doors of the barn. The light of one naked bulb flickered meagerly across Lois' features as he looked at her.

"Are you cold?" he whispered.

"No."

Lois' eyes met his and he was lost in their hazel depths. Clark was bathed in a thousand memories, more welcome than the sorrowful focus of this day. His mind went back to an hour long ago when he'd found himself here in her embrace, her face inches away from his. Her smell intoxicated him and Clark's eyes fluttered closed as he reached back in time to recapture what he'd lost.

His lips sank into hers and their breaths intertwined for the first time in five years. Clark clung to her, burying his hands in her hair, declaring his love in every way but speech. With every brush of her lips, every stroke of her cheek, he would collect the pieces of their shattered pasts and fused them back together.

The air around him was warm and hazy, the world righting itself as long as she was in his arms. He was lost in this moment until her tears mixed with his on their lips.

Clark drew back to find Lois' eyes looking back into through a veil of tears. Her expression pained.

The reality of their present situation crashed over him, as her hands slid off of his shoulders, retreating back to her sides. Clark's memories shifted to the empty newsroom and his ears echoed with the angry words born of betrayal that had been spoken there.

Lois took a step back and her arms crossed defensively over her chest. Clark didn't know which was worse, the pain in her eyes over her mistrust of him or the longing he saw there to continue what they had just begun.

They stood there a moment, eyes locked on one another, his eyes pleading for understanding and hers unable to give it.

Lois dropped her gaze and turned away. Clark watched her as she disappeared out of the barn into the consuming darkness of the night.

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The gravel crunched beneath Lois' feet as she all but ran toward the farmhouse.

The moonlit walkway in front of her blurred through her tears. She angrily batted them away as quickly as they fell. [IWhat was I thinking?[/I Every step resonated painfully throughout her body as she increased the distance between her head and her heart.

Her head told her to get to the house, to remember why a relationship not founded on trust would always fail. But her heart…

Her heart was on the floor of the barn.

She had wanted just for one moment, to take away the pain in his eyes, but selfishly she wanted to remember what it felt like to be in his arms, to be loved by him.

Lois mentally cursed herself as made her way around to the front of the house. She climbed the steps of the porch and sat heavily down on the welcoming cushion of the porch swing.

There in the security of the darkness, the tears came, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. How had things become so complicated? Lois bounced off the walls of her own mind, trying to work out her confusion.

Her eyes filled afresh at the memory of his crestfallen expression when she'd left him in the barn. Clark had been through so much already the last few days and the last thing Lois had wanted to do was add more hardship to an already difficult situation.

But the way he looked at her…

She couldn't stop herself from answering the question in his eyes.

Lois drew her knees up to her chest and laid against the arm of the swing, her tears slid down her cheeks, soaking the smooth wood beneath them.

It had never been an issue whether or not she loved him. Even now, her arms ached to be filled, the feel his ever-present warmth radiating from him into her.

The last time she'd felt his arms around her, they had been floating twenty feet above the floor of the Planet bullpen.

A shuddering sob escaped her as the memory of the night flooded her mind.

------------------------------------------------------------

_The rest of the staff had gone home for the night. It was an ordinary evening for Lois & Clark. She was plugging away at what she hoped would be the last revision on her story, meanwhile Clark had taken a break from correcting her spelling mistakes to go to the roof for some air. _

_Lois took off her glasses and rubbed her sore, tired eyes. The news droned on from the lone live monitor in the newsroom. Looped news footage covering the swearing in of the new mayor flickered onto the screen. This mayor was being sworn in after the previous mayor's resignation. _

_Lois felt a small swell of pride rise in her chest at that. She had been the one to break the story wide open when she'd discovered Mayor Fantinelli's side business of taking bribes from the local mob boss._

_It hadn't taken long before charges had come flying from every direction and under public scrutiny, the mayor had stepped down._

_Lois smiled and stood up, stretching the kinks out of her back. She tilted her head to either side relaxing the muscles of her neck._

_Lois leaned over her desk to her finished document and hit the print button. Her eyes flitted upward._

"_I wouldn't mind some fresh air myself." She muttered to herself._

_Lois reached for her purse, and her hand had just closed around her last pack of cigarettes when television monitor blared to life with a live bulletin. _

"_This just in from down town. Superman has just extinguished a fire that began in the apartment complex behind me. The tenants of the building have been evacuated. The resident of the apartment where the fire originated has just been flown down to the ambulance by Superman airlines." The bottle-blonde reporter giggled at her own joke._

"_Oh Lord." Lois rolled her eyes._

"_We'll see if the Man of Steel has a moment….Superman? Superman!" The woman's teased hairdo bobbed wildly as she teetered on her stilettos across the street toward Superman who smiled patiently at her. "Bonnie Lieberwitz, 'Metropolis Beat'! Would you mind giving us a statement about the blaze?"_

_Superman pretended not to notice the reporter inching closer to him as he spoke. "Well Bonnie, the fire was easily extinguished because it was contained to pretty much the one apartment. It was a lucky night for the people in this building."_

_Superman's normally immaculate suit was smudged with charcoal and debris, his face streaked with dirt and dust from the rescue. Despite his disheveled appearance, he stood towering and regal next to the fawning reporter. _

"_He even looks perfect when he's a mess." Lois tapped on the bottom of the cigarette package a half smile on her face._

"_Superman, were you able to see how the fire began with your x-ray vision?" Bonnie's eyes were wide as she mooned over the superhero._

_Superman's lip twitched momentarily before he responded. He cleared his throat and regarded her soberly, "I'm afraid this whole incident could have been avoided. It appears the resident fell asleep with a lit cigarette in her hand and the sheets of her bed were set ablaze."_

"_Oh my!" Bonnie marveled dramatically. _

"_I think all of us can learn a valuable lesson about the risks of this dangerous habit." Superman said as he turned his eye on the camera and Lois felt as if he was looking right at her._

_She laughed out loud and tosses the cigarette package back onto her desk. With a grin she set her course for the elevators. "How does he __**do**__ that?"_

_Lois was still chuckling when the elevator gave a soft ding for the roof entrance. She opened the doorway to the rooftop and called out for her coworker._

"_Clark! I've finished my homework! Want to give it a quick once ov-" Lois' nose wrinkled in confusion as her eyes beheld an empty rooftop. "Clark Keeent?" she called merrily._

_Lois took a few steps around the marble-covered roof and found no sign of her partner. She clicked her tongue and shrugged, turning back to the roof entrance door. Lois stepped through it and was about to close it behind her when she heard the familiar sound of boot-clad feet meeting marble._

_Lois ran a hand over her hair to smooth it and grinned at the thought that maybe she and Bonnie weren't so different after all._

_She opened the door and was surprised when she came face to face not with Superman but a very stricken looking Clark Kent, who's hand was frozen midway through a tie-straightening._

"_Where did you come from?" Lois tilted her head, her brow furrowed. _

_Clark stared mutely at her for a moment. "Wha- uh. What do you mean Lois? I was just up here getting some air."_

_Lois' eyes narrowed a little and she stepped towards him, he skittered backwards, avoiding her eyes. "Clark, no you weren't, I was just up here looking for you." A little bell went off in her head at his strange behavior. "Clark, what's going on?" _

_Clark straightened his glasses and nudged past her through the door into the building. "Lois don't be silly, nothing is going on. You must not have seen me is all." He pushed the down button on the elevator, which opened immediately._

"_I called your name. Twice." Lois's eyes followed Clark as he stepped into the elevator. "Why-"_

"_Are you coming?" Clark cut her off, his voice coming more strident and firm than it usually did._

"_Yeh…" Lois stepped into the elevator car and as the doors closed the smell of smoke tickled her nose. Lois sniffed the air, once, twice. She leaned toward Clark who seemed unaware of the odor. "You know, for a guy who wanted some fresh air you smell like the business end of a fireplace."_

_Clark shifted uncomfortably. When the doors of the elevator opened he looked visibly relieved and walked briskly into the bullpen. Lois stalked after him, the warning bells in her head amplifying into an all out alarm._

"_Did you finish your story, Lois?" Clark asked, his voice still uncharacteristically high. He shed his coat and plopped it onto his desk. "It's getting late and we need to be bac-" Clark turned around and nearly walked right into her. "Excuse me."_

_Lois let him pass as he shuffled over to her desk and picked up her final print of their story. Her eyes studied him, something niggled in the back of her mind just out of reach. _

_Clark's eyes shifted sideways as he pretended not to notice her scrutiny. He reached back nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. As he did, his tilted head revealed a long black smudge down the side of his neck._

"_What the-" After a moment, Lois' eyes widened. It __**couldn't **__be._

_Clark looked up and saw her expression. "Lois…" he put the pages down on her desk and cross the room to stand in front of her._

_Lois swallowed the lump growing in her throat. "Why do you smell like smoke, Clark." She said quietly. _

_It was not a question._

_Her jaw set and she blinked repeatedly as the harsh reality of who was standing before her became crystal clear._

_Clark regarded her in silence, a flicker of defeat and fear flashing through his blue eyes._

"_Lo-"_

"_Why is there a charcoal smudge down your neck, __**Clark**__" she interrupted, leaning heavily on his name, her voice shaking with anger._

_Clark reached for her, his hands falling briefly on her shoulders before Lois pulled away with such violence she nearly fell backwards._

"_That's why you weren't on the roof. You were needed… somewhere else weren't you… Superman." She said the name thickly, her voice breaking as she closed her eyes._

_Clark did not insult her with a denial. Rather he stepped forward. Looking directly into her eyes, his large hands closed gently around her elbows. Lois' eyes locked with his momentarily until she felt the floor of the bullpen give way below her heels._

_She gasped as her shoes slipped off her feet and clattered to the floor. Lois looked down to see the newsroom stretching twenty feet below her as she and Clark floated above it._

"_Lois now that-" Clark began softly. _

_Lois' surprise was short lived and her head snapped towards Clark _

"_Put me down…please." She growled through clenched teeth, her eyes burned into his._

_Clark shifted his grip, wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her._

"_Lois, now that you know…" Clark repeated, softly as he lowered them back toward the floor. His voice was calm and steady which only made Lois angrier._

"_You mean now that I've found out! How could you?" The moment her feet touched the floor, she pulled away from his embrace. She stalked over to her shoes, her bare feet squeaking on the tiled floor. "How long would you have let this go on, Clark? Forever? If I hadn't figured this out, would I be walking Jason down the aisle by myself on his wedding day while you floated above the church x-raying the roof?_

_No! Because you'd be there as __**'Clark!'**__ wouldn't you!?" Her hands cut the air in violent air quotes and she slipped a shoe onto her foot. "I don't even know who you are!"_

"_Lois-"_

"_God, Clark! I don't understand how someone so synonymous with 'truth' could live every second of his life in opposition to it!" With every word, Lois' hurt-fueled anger began to spiral out of control. "Did you even love me at all? Or was that just another lie?"_

_Clark's mouth gaped and his eyes bulged in disbelief. _

"_How can you even ask me that? You're the one person on this planet I'd ever even __**consider**__ telling this secret to. I loved you. I __**love**__ you. I didn't want there to be anything unknown between us. I'm sorry you found out the way you did. But I would have told you. That's the truth."_

_Tears fell unchecked down Lois' face as she slipped on her second shoe and turned her back to him as she stalked to her desk._

"_Is that __**the**__ truth, Clark? Or __**your**__ truth?" She said quietly. _

_She collected her purse and coat turned on her heel, pushing her way through the glass doors towards the elevator, leaving Clark standing in stunned silence._


	9. Mirror

-1A tenacious ray of sunlight ray crept through the curtains and found its across the hardwood floor, over the worn flowered pattern of the area rug, and up the side of the bed into Lois' eyes.

Lois frowned in her sleep and snuggled deeper into the cottony cocoon around her. She dug her arms out from under the feathery soft pillow and pulled the heavy comforter over her eyes and blocked out the persistent sun. She dragged her legs closer to her chest and was startled to find a thick solid lump hindering her movement. Lois gently pushed against it and it moved slightly. The sound of rhythmic breathing worked its way into her consciousness.

Lois opened one eye and peered around the comforter and came face to face with a furry golden muzzle that leaned forward and lolled a friendly and wet kiss across her nose. She ran her hand over her face and extended it to the dog, scratching one velvety ear.

Her eyes traveled the room to find it empty save for her furry guest. Outside a chorus of birds emerged from the thick branches of the oak tree just beyond the glass. Lois lifted her left arm reflexively her watch announced the time to be nearly ten am! Lois frowned, she'd never been a morning person but she never slept this late. She must have been more tired than she realized.

Suddenly, the events of the previous evening playing in a slideshow across her memory, _Clark. The barn… Oh God._

Lois didn't need to guess how she'd gotten here. She looked down to find herself fully dressed minus her blazer which was folded neatly over the chair next to the small desk in the corner. Lois closed her eyes at the pang of remorse that resounded through her.

She sat up in the bed, sitting perfectly still listening for signs that Clark was awake. The house was silent around her and with a final pat of a silky furred head Lois nudged the dog off the bed and swung her legs over the side.

The dog regarded her in sleepy annoyance as it stretched luxuriously against the floor throwing its paws forward and rear the air in a lazy bow.

Lois' bare feet made no sound as she walked lightly toward the door. She leaned her head slightly toward the door frame. The silence continued from the other side of the wood and Lois took a breath and dragged the heavy door inward.

Her roommate squeezed around her legs through the doorway and ran off somewhere into the house, leaving Lois to find her way alone.

"Thanks a lot."

Lois padded down the hall and found the bathroom a few doors down. The sun shone brightly through the window causing the cheerfully decorated room to shine and flicker as the trees branches swayed to and fro with the wind outside.

Lois stepped inside and looked into the mirror. Despite her comfortable bed and full night of sleep, Lois' reflection peered back at her with eyes that were still swollen from the tears of the night before. She sighed and reached to turn on the faucet. Lois' hand bumped the stack of provisions that had been left there. Her breath shuddered a bit tearfully as she picked up the washcloth Clark had left out for her on top of a pile of fresh clothes she assumed had belonged to Martha.

Lois blinked back the tears prompted by the gesture and turned on the faucet. She ran the washcloth under the cool stream of water, wrung the excess water from it and pressed it against her eyes.

---------------------------------------------

Clark and Ben sat in silence as Ben's truck sputtered it's way up the hill. The business with Ned at the funeral home had been mercifully swift. Ben seemed to have been prepared far beyond what Clark could have anticipated and for that Clark was eternally grateful.

Now as they headed home, Clark's mind landed heavily back on the events of the previous evening. Lois' tear-streaked face floated in his mind's eyes. He sighed and looked out the window. He realized belatedly that Ben had been speaking to him,

"Mmhmm…" he murmured distractedly.

"Clark?" Ben's eyes were on him now. "I don't need super-powers to see something is on your mind."

Clark turned his attention to the older man, a sheepish expression on his face. Clark dropped his eyes and examined an oil stain on the truck floor. "It's complicated."

"I suspected it might be able Lois." Ben offered a small smile. "My love for the Kent family didn't stop with your mother, son, you know that. If you have something on your mind you see fit to share with me, well I'd be happy to hear whatever it is you have to say."

Clark exhaled and looked out the window.

"I kissed Lois last night."

Ben glanced at Clark out of the side of his eye.

"And I take it it didn't go as you planned."

Clark snorted.

"I didn't plan it at all. It just kind of happened and …" Clark groaned and hit his leg with his fist. "It just made things that were already complicated that much worse."

Ben sat silently waiting for Clark to continue.

"Earlier this week Lois nearly caught me flying in from a rescue. I landed on the Planet roof and she opened the door just as I was pulling up my tie. Had she come a second earlier and… she knew something was going on. And with Lois, once she gets wind of something, she's like a dog with a bone. She doesn't let it go." Clark ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Before I knew what was happening she had figured out my secret and from the way it came out it looked like I was going to keep it from her forever."

Ben took his eyes from the road for a moment as they came to a stop sign. "Were you?" He turned onto the road leading out of town. "Were you going to keep it from her?"

Clark threw his hands into the air. "No! That's just it! Lois and I have been so close lately, both as Superman and as Clark. She seemed like she was ready to move on from Richard leaving, Jason and I had been spending more time together, it just seemed like everything was falling into place. I started to tell her a couple times but…"

"You chickened out?"

"No! I just…" Clark looked forlornly at Ben, and seeing the older man's knowing expression he cast his eyes heavenward.. "Yeh. I guess. I didn't know how she'd react. I didn't want her to see it as a betrayal and lose her. And in the end that's what ended up happening. I've never seen her so angry. She didn't give me a chance to explain and I'm not sure she ever will at this point."

"She's here isn't she?" Ben asked as he pulled up the dirt road on the outskirts of the farm.

"Yeh?" Clark's nose crinkled in question.

Ben slowed the truck to a stop at the main gate to the farm. "She wouldn't be here if she'd given up on you. If you come to her with the truth, you might be surprised at how understanding she might be."

Clark laughed wryly. "You don't know Lois." He unbuckled his seatbelt and slide out of the truck. He closed the door and regarded Ben through the open window. "I just don't know if we can come back from that. I don't know if she'll ever trust me again." Clark leaned against the door and tilted his head. "If you were me, when would you have told her?"

Ben smiled and slipped the truck into gear.

"The moment I realized I loved her."

---------------------------------------------

Lois stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off. She picked up the well-loved jeans off the counter and pulled them on. She and Martha shared a similar build if not the same taste in clothes, but the easy comfort of the jeans and tank top were as inviting and uncomplicated as the woman who had once worn them.

Clark had left one of his flannels hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Lois' hand fluttered without thought toward it, her fingers running down the soft material that still carried the familiar scent of fresh air and detergent that she'd come to associate with Clark Kent.

Leaving the garment hanging on the hook, Lois opened the door to the hallway, the steam from her shower following her. Her fingers grazed the frame of the door and she looked at the uneven surface of the wood. The varnish was the same color except for a stripe where a young boy's imagination and a liberal amount of duct tape had stripped it away.

A smile tugged at Lois' lips as she traced the bare wood with one finger and then reached behind her to turn on the bathroom fan. The steam swirled for a moment before lazily floating away from her toward the duct on the room's ceiling.

As Lois made her way down the hallway, her eyes took in the sights around her. The carpeting was plush beneath her feet inviting her to stop and look at the countless framed photos and mementos that lined the walls.

Row after row of pictures told the story of the house and the family that had lived so happily in it. Birthdays, silliness and love filled frame after frame as Lois walked down the hall. She smiled at the pictures of Clark as a teenager, his glasses dominating his young face that hinted at the man he would become.

Lois turned the corner into the living room where still more photos invited her gaze across every flat surface in the room. A wave of melancholy hit her as she wondered what photos would come to fill the little empty space left in this room.

Childhood photos grew rarer and Lois watched Clark grow up in every photo. She noticed the absence of Clark's father in his graduation photos and the presence of Ben in the photo taken six months ago when Clark had won the Schaap award.

Lois' eyes fell on one photo that was different than the rest. Inside the frame was a picture of her and Clark taken on the same day of Clark's award. Clark stood beside her as they posed for a picture that would be run the following morning's Planet. Lois supposed Martha had snapped the photo while she and Clark's eyes had been focused on Jimmy.

A thought occurred to her and Lois scanned over the photos on the piano and the walls. There was something missing. No classmates or buddies from college were to be found. Every single photo held the faces of the small tight knit family that dwelled within these walls and with the exception of herself and Ben, not a single outsider was pictured. Not even a picture of Jason.

The reality dawned on Lois that Martha had protected Clark's secret even in her own home. She hadn't indulged in the ancient tradition of grandparents who took countless photos of their grandchildren and displayed them where they could find wall space. Nothing hinted at the existence Clark had outside of Smallville but one candid photo of a coworker in whom a mother's insight had seen as so much more. This entire collection of memories told of an ordinary boy who grew into an ordinary man who was only extraordinary in the eyes of his mother.

_Love is patient…_

_Love is kind…_

_It is not self seeking…_

Lois sat down on the piano bench and ran her fingers across the glass surface of Clark's face smiling at her behind the frame. Lois looked into his eyes and saw the glint of the man hiding behind those glasses, the man who pulled children from burning buildings and carried aircrafts on his shoulders. This man who never, in his whole life dropped his mask, except for one fleeting moment in the bull pen of the Daily Planet.

_Nor easily angered…_

Lois dropped her hand into her lap and the tears that had been collecting in her eyes fell down her cheeks. Whatever Clark's reasons had been for not telling her his secret, his mother had carried them with the same importance her whole life.

_It keeps no record of wrongs…_

---------------------------------------------

Clark walked slowly up the gravel driveway. His shoulders slumped as he grew closer to the house. He was exhausted and emotionally drained. Clark's eyes flickered over to the house, his vision peeling through the layers of wood and paint to find Lois in the kitchen sitting at the table, a distressed expression on her face.

He altered his course and headed toward the barn. Clark shed the dress shirt he'd donned for the meeting with Ned and laid it on a bale of hay. Looking around him there were a limitless amount of chores that would provide detraction. He could have them finished in moments if he wanted to, but today the prospect of a few hours of work seemed like just what the doctor ordered.

---------------------------------------------


	10. Revelation

**Bequest :** Chapter Ten - Revelation

_"I just don't understand how a woman eats her body weight in pastrami every day and doesn't gain and ounce." Clark laughed and took another bite of his Rueben._

Lois laughed and popped a slice of pickle into her mouth. "Look who's talking! I've never seen anyone as skinny as you eat so unhealthily, I swear you think Cheetos are their own food group."

Clark swallowed the last bite of his sandwich with wide eyes. "Skinny! You think I'm skinny? Can I help that I have a long torso? I'll have you know this tweed hides more muscle than you realize!" He held the straw of a gargantuanly oversized cup to his lips. "And Cheetos _**are **__their own food group." He muttered and took a long drink of what Lois assumed was a non diet cola._

Lois grinned widely at his frantic defense of his physique. She had always considered him to be very solidly built beneath his layered suits from what she could tell, but so amused was she at his reaction that she made a mental note to call him 'Bean pole' on occasion just to see his feathers ruffle.

They'd been sitting in her car for seven hours now staking out a lead on a local drug dealer's latest shipment, fatigue and sugar saturation seemed to be powering their strange conversation.

Lois raised the binoculars to her eyes and flipped on the night vision. The alley way remained dark, unmoving and empty. Lois sighed. She was tired and in dire need of a bathroom break.

A sudden movement caught her eye as Demetrio Stanov stepped into the green-hued view of her binocular sights.

"We've got company," Clark whispered.

Lois pulled her eyes away from the scopes to peer into the darkness at Clark.

"How did you know that? I can barely see him and I'm the one with the goggles!"

She saw the shadows shift as Clark raised his hand to shush her. "The man walks like an elephant on popping paper. You probably couldn't hear him with all that chewing."

She heard the smile in his voice even before the streetlight glinted off his teeth. Lois raised the binoculars back to her eyes and found the street was once again empty.

"He's gone!" She fumbled for the latch on the door. "Come on." Lois slid silently out of the car. She ignored Clark's whispered calls for her return and headed off down the alley after their subject.

Lois was halfway down the alley before she realized Clark was beside her. The path was small and dank. Large dumpsters crowded the space and the water from the recent rain did little to freshen the air. Lois grimaced as the acrid stench assaulted her nostrils.

Just ahead of them a loud crash sent Clark in to action. In one fluid motion Lois felt his arms encircle her waist and he pressed her against the nearest wall. Neither of them moved, they stood in tense silence until a gray alley cat stepped from the shadows and gave them a quizzical look before sauntering out toward the sidewalk.

"You always were too protective," she whispered breathlessly, her lip curled up in a wry smile.

"Only because you give me every reason to be." He murmured in retort, his face inches from hers.

"If you're done protecting me from the local feline population, maybe we could go after Stanov." She was a bit off kilter from the speed of his action and strangely even more so by his close proximity.

Clark loosened his grip on her waist slightly but did not move. "Lois, you have to be more careful. One of these days you're going to get yourself into some real danger," his eyes burned into hers. "What if I'm …not here to…" 

"To…" Lois trailed off, the smile dying on her lips at his expression.

Clark's gaze flickered momentarily to her lips before returning again to her eyes. She was overwhelmed by the familiarity of his scent and involuntarily, Lois inclined her lips in an almost imperceptible invitation.

The piercing sound of metal scraping against metal shattered the moment and both of their heads turned to see Demetrio Stanov standing a few feet away.

"I'm sorry to interrupt such a tender moment, but I have reason to believe you were looking for me. I believe it would be inhospitable of me to leave without saying goodbye, especially seeing as this is your last visit." His gun flashed in the meager light as he trained it on them.

Stanov gestured roughly toward the deep end of the alley and Clark slowly turned around, keeping his body in between her and Stanov.

"I'm sorry, sir there must be some mistake," Lois pasted on a smile and attempted unsuccessfully to slide around Clark. "We were just out for a walk." She settled for peeking around Clark's towering frame, grabbing his hand and swinging it back and forth in a non-threatening manner.

"That may be, Miss Lane," Stanov's lips curled up in a serpentine grin, his voice remaining low and charming as his accent poured over his words, "but you have to understand my suspicion when I find two of the city's most illustrious reporters snooping in a dark alley. The same alley I have business in tonight. The smile melted from his face and he gestured more forcefully with the gun. "Move."

Clark raised his hands in the air and took a step forward, the light from the streetlamp above bathing his features momentarily. Suddenly, Clark sprang forward, his body colliding heavily with Stanov as he reached for the gun. They wrestled within the halo of light a moment before both men fell to the ground and plunged into the darkness.

A gunshot rang out, its sound ricocheted off the cement walls until it faded into an eerie silence. Lois' blood ran cold as total fear engulfed her.

"Clark!" She screamed. Lois threw herself toward the dirty pavement of the alley and felt around in the darkness for Clark's familiar frame. "No. No. No. Please No. Clark?!" Her breath came in hysterical gasps.

"Lois."

Clark's voice came from behind her and Lois turned just as he stepped from the shadows. She sprang to her feet and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Oh, Clark…" her eyes widened and she stepped back, pulling Clark into the light and frantically began checking him for bullet holes. Lois' eyes fell to a hole in the shoulder of his overcoat. "You're hurt!" Her hands raced over him, pulling at his coat. She didn't see any blood…

Clark's hand closed over hers, stopping her search. 

"I'm fine. Fortunately he's a lousy shot. The bullet must have just grazed…" He reached up and put his finger through the hole in his coat. "Oh man! This was my favorite coat."

Satisfied he was alright Lois wrapped her arms around his waist and held him as tightly as she could. "I'll buy you a new one. I'm so sorry! I never should have… Oh Clark, if anything ever happened to you..." Her fingers curled around his coat and her tears soaked into the fabric.

Clark returned her embrace and stroked her hair reassuringly. "I'm fine, Lois." He pulled away and looked seriously into her eyes. "But maybe next time I say; 'Don't go down a dark alley after the bad guy' you listen to me?"

Lois laughed through her tears and buried her face in his chest.

Stanov.

Lois gasped and turned her attention toward the form that lay unmoving in the shadows

"Is he…?"

Clark shook his head. "Unconscious. He hit his head on the wall when we fell."

Twenty minutes later, Lois sat on the ledge of the ambulance's open loading stage. The police had arrived and were loading Stanov into a cruiser. Clark stood a few yards away giving his statement to an officer.

A chill ran through her body as her mind went over the night's events. For a split second she had been convinced that Clark was gone and in that second something had changed in her. The thought of her life without Clark in it sent a jolt of pure agony through her. It was unthinkable.

Lois brushed away the tear that escaped down her cheek.

It had only taken a moment to bring the truth into focus.

She loved him.  


------------------------------------------------

Lois sat at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug. It had been over an hour since she'd heard the door of Ben's truck slam closed and an hour since she'd seen Clark's dark head pass by the house and head into the barn.

A tempest of emotions swirled about her mind and she breathed deeply, looking at the different facets of the situation she found herself in one by one in an attempt to sort them out.

For all his mistakes, Clark had always been the one person in her life that she had trusted completely. Though he sometimes fumbled and bumbled his way through their relationship, she could never say he didn't have her best interest at heart; even when he was wrong.

Looking back over the time she'd known him, Lois could almost kick herself at how the love of her life and best friend managed to keep the secret from her that they were the same person. Now looking at a framed picture of Clark, it was impossible not to see.

And still it was more than that. When she looked at Clark Kent, she felt safe. Not because he could bounce bullets off his chest and fly her out of danger as he had countless times, but because somehow without realizing it, she had fallen in love with the awkward bumpkin from Kansas.

After the night in the alley, Lois had gone home totally stunned at the revelation of her feelings for Clark. She'd torn herself apart trying to figure out how she had managed to get herself into this situation. She was in love with two men. It was so much different than it had been with Richard. He had been a stand in, a substitute as she tried to fill the hole in her heart left by Superman's absence. But Clark had somehow infiltrated her heart without her knowledge, making a place of his own.

Weeks later she had fooled herself into thinking it was just the emotion of the moment. Clark was her best friend and nothing more, but in the back of her mind, she knew better.

And that night in the Planet he held her so carefully in his arms. Shehad looked into Clark Kent's eyes while Superman floated her above the bullpen floor. It was then she knew with startling clarity, what she felt in the alley was not a fleeting emotion.

She loved him. Both sides of him. And because of that, the betrayal had hurt twice as badly.

_Love bears all things  
Love believes all things  
Love hopes all things  
Love endures all things_

Now sitting in his house, amongst the loving protection his mother had provided, she understood the importance and honor of being one privy to such a secret. Lois' eyes fluttered to the photo of she and Clark; Martha had known one day Clark would need someone else to protect himhim, to love him. Lois knew that mantle was placed firmly on her shoulders.

Lois rose from her chair and headed toward the back door.

_Love never fails._

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark exhaled in relief as the circular saw gave its last groan. He cut the power and surveyed his work. A tall stack of fence posts sat proudly on the workbench. In the past it had been easier to cut them with his heat vision and certainly less painful on his sensitive ears, but nonetheless he was proud of his handiwork.

Clark reached across the workbench and grabbed armful after armful of posts and tossed them into the waiting wheelbarrow. He pulled the rag from his pocket and wiped off his arms and chest which were covered in sawdust. Clark ran his hands briskly through his hair, letting the wood shavings fall to the ground.

As he pushed the wheelbarrow outside, the noontime sun blazed overhead, washing over him. Clark paused for a moment, letting the sunlight soak into his tired muscles.

He hadn't slept much last night. Between a cyclone in Australia and a flood in Fiji, Clark had spent most of the night racing around the globe from crisis to crisis, alone with his thoughts.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

_Clark stood on the rooftop of the Daily Planet, gazing out over the city. A cacophony of sounds rushed up from the street to meet his ears. He accepted and dismissed each of them one by one, the routine done mainly by reflex now. Tonight his mind was elsewhere._

Clark drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, tapping his hand nervously on the stone ledge of the rooftop. He'd needed to come up here to clear his head, to think. He and Lois were the last people in the building, and yet he'd had to retreat to the roof to escape the crowded feeling growing in his chest.

It had been nearly a week since the close call in the alley. Demetrio and the gunshot paled in comparison to the event that had preceded it. Clark remembered the look in Lois' eyes as they stood face to face in the dim light, the way she'd smiled up and him when that harmless cat had walked by.

Holding her had stirred a host of memories inside him and for a moment he'd forgotten himself. For a split second he'd seen the love in her eyes that thus far he'd only known as Superman, and when she'd lifted her face toward his, his entire being had reacted. His head had dipped to give the kiss waiting to be received.

He didn't know if he'd imagined it, but ever since that night, something between them had changed. Every time he looked at her, he ached to hold her and kiss her and let her know how much he loved her. Without a secret between them. With every passing moment, he knew with absolute certainty that he couldn't lie to her anymore.

Clark steeled himself and pushed off the wall. He turned toward the door of the roof, finally having worked up the courage to tell her the truth.

Then a cry for help reached his ears. There was a fire downtown.

Clark sighed slightly and answered the call as he always had. When all was finished; the fire extinguished and every victim in the capable hands of the paramedics, Clark flew back to the Daily Planet, his heart leading him to the woman he loved. Tonight he would tell her and he prayed she would understand.

He was so lost in thought, that when the rooftop door opened and Lois stood before him, every word he'd been planning to say flew out of his head.

"Where did you come from?" Lois asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Clark froze and struggled for words. ANY words. "Wha- uh. What do you mean Lois? I was just up here getting some air." He closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself.

The feeble lie rang falsely between them and Clark examined his shoes, trying not to look her in the eye. He made a break for the elevator with Lois hot on his heels. He felt the chance to redeem himself quickly slipping away as the doors closed them into the small car.

The smell of smoke from the fire filled his nostrils coming from the suit beneath his freshly changed clothes. He prayed it was just his sensitive sense of smell and that Lois would miss it, but in the confines of the elevator, he heard her intake of breath as she tested the air with her nose, he heard her heartbeat speed up as her suspicion grew.

He had to get out of here. This was not how this was meant to go.

When the elevator doors opened, he was through them like a shot, frantically searching for a distraction of any kind to literally throw Lois off the scent. Clark scrambled to her desk and picked up the piece they'd been working on. He reached up to rub a kink out of his neck.

"What the..." came Lois' shocked voice. Her heartbeat thundered in his ears and when Clark lowered his hand, his fingers came away black with soot from the fire.

His eyes met hers at the moment the truth dawned on her. Clark felt like his own heart had ceased to beat.

No. Not like this.

Clark crossed the room and stood in front Lois. He reached for her, hoping to prevent the inevitable eruption.

"That's why you weren't on the roof. You were needed… somewhere else weren't you… Superman."  
The name tumbled from her lips and shattered on the floor like glass. Clark winced. He couldn't bear the pain in her voice. He stepped forward and gently wrapped his hands around her elbows. Clark slowly pushed off the floor, and held her more closely, praying somehow this gesture would take the look of pain from her eyes.

She was stiff and silent in his arms. He took advantage of the silence and awkwardly began what he'd been rehearsing in his head for a week.

"Lois, now that you-"

"Put me down…please."

Clark looked into her face. The wall was up. The only thing getting past it were the tears welling in her eyes. He stood by as she stalked around the office hurling statements that were partially true and somewhat deserved. Clark wished with all his being there was something he could say that would help her understand.

"…did you ever even love me at all?"

Clark felt his heart break.

"How can you even ask me that? You're the one person on this planet I'd ever even consider telling this secret to. I loved you. I love you. I didn't want there to be anything unknown between us. I'm sorry you found out the way you did. But I would have told you. That's the truth."  
He could tell she didn't believe him, which part he wasn't sure.

"Is that the truth, Clark? Or your truth?" she said quietly.

The glass doors at the entrance to the newsroom closed soundlessly behind Lois but the impact of her exit caused a nearly audible slam to run through his body. Clark sat down heavily in the chair by his desk, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

He leaned across the desk, cradling his forehead in his hands.

After a moment his hand reached for the phone. Clark hit the first button the touchpad until the number to the farm rang in his ear.

The line rang in his ear for over two minutes before he replaced the handset into the cradle.

Clark took up his coat and headed out the door of the Planet.

He'd never felt more alone.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The crunch of footsteps drew Clark out of his revere. He looked up to find Lois standing a few feet from him wearing the clothes he'd left for her.

"Hi." She said in a small voice. She fidgeted, looking as nervous as he felt.

"Hi." Clark chewed the inside of his lip nervously.

"Thank you for the clothes."

"Oh! Sure! Yeh… Did you find everything ok?"

"I did. Thank you." She said in the politest voice he'd ever heard from her.

The silence stretched awkwardly between them.

"Did these clothes belong to your Mom?" She asked after a long moment.

Clark smiled faintly. "Yes, they did."

More silence. A sparrow on a nearby branch sang a tenuous song as if to try to fill the silence. Clark shoved his hands into his pockets, fleetingly wishing for a distant cry for help.

If kryptonite was his weakness, silence was Lois'.

"Clark, about last night…" Lois began at last.

Clark nodded. "I had no right to…"

"I'm sorry for the way I…"

"I understand if you don't want to stay..."

"Wait. What? No."

"You're probably missing Jason…"

Lois reached forward and grabbed his forearm. "Clark! Slow down." Her lips turned up in an exasperated smile.

"Jason-" Clark eyed her with caution.

"…is expected at school and is spending some time with Richard and his Uncle Perry." Lois interjected. "I've never taken time off before. I can stay as long as you … want me here."

Relief flooded his entire body. "Of course I want you here. I don't know what I would do without you. I just didn't want you to feel like you had to stay, and after last night..." He searched for the words to explain himself and only managed; "I'm sorry."

"Well, there was more than one pair of lips involved, Clark." Lois smiled wryly. "We just-"

"Need to talk." Clark finished.

She squeezed his hand and they smiled at each other.


	11. Truth

-1_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Eleven - Truth

_Lois snapped her notepad shut, her eyes followed the crowds' awestruck gaze to the night sky where she barely made out the red of Superman's cape he flew out of sight. A pipeline burst had filled some of the suburban streets of Metropolis with water, had it not been for Superman's quick arrival, many homes in the area would have found themselves with water front property and severe flooding._

_Lois smiled as she looked around her, some children nearby jumped up and down excitedly as they playfully argued over who Superman had waved to. The fire fighters looked relieved and were escorting people back to their homes so they could clean up the remaining water. A few residents stood with their eyes still on the sky, whispering quiet thanks to the departing hero, confident he could hear them._

_The spring evening was unusually chilly as Lois made her way down the block away from the crowds. She'd walked about two blocks when she felt someone watching her. Lois coughed and put her head down, keeping her pace. In a block or so she would turn the corner and the city would open up before her with all of it's lights and the taxis she sought._

_The feeling persisted and Lois stopped suddenly, the heels of her shoes clacked against the pavement. She turned her eyes to the darkness at her side._

"_Statement for the press?" Lois asked, she bit her lip, trying to hide her smile._

"_Maybe I'm not the only one with Super-hearing." Superman stepped out of the shadows, a grin spreading widely across his handsome features. _

_Lois turned toward him and returned his grin. Superman towered over her without being imposing, his hair still wet from the stopping the wild spray of water coming from the pipes. Lois reached into her pocket and produced her tape recorder._

"_Care to give a struggling journalist a sound byte?" She batted her lashes innocently at him. His deep laugh echoed off the walls around them. _

"_You're hardly struggling." He said, falling into step beside her, "I'm almost surprised to see you covering a fluff piece what with all the drama you stirred up at the mayor's office."_

_Lois glowed under his praise and tilted her head toward him, "It's a slow news night." She lifted the recorder in front of him and wiggled it insistently. _

_Superman cleared his throat a dramatically and leaned toward the microphone, closing the distance between them. "Did you have a question for me, Miss Lane?" He tilted his head to the side and the light from the streetlamp above them caught the mischievous sparkle in his eyes._

"_Yes in fact I did, Superman." Her tone was overly business-like causing his smile to widen further still. "Were you able to repair the water main? Or will it need to be fixed by professionals?"_

_He raised an eyebrow slightly. "I have every reason to believe the main is back in working order, and will not need further repair, however it is city policy for the officials to make sure my repairs are up to code."_

"_Do you think the rupture was a result of faulty piping?"_

_He chuckled. "Not everything is a scandal, Lois. I would pin the burst on the unusually cold nights we've had. Nothing more."_

"_Always the diplomat." Lois teased. She brushed a drop of water from his forehead before it slid into his eye. "Where did you take Jason today? He usually comes home with some random trinket and a crazy story about the Great Wall Of China or your eight hundredth trip to Disney World. Today, I asked him if he had fun and he just said; 'We sure did!' and went to his room."_

_An emotion flickered in and out of Superman's eyes before Lois could define it. _

"_Here and there. But right now I have a question of my own if I might, Miss Lane." The smile leaving his face, but there was no mistaking his playful tone._

_It was Lois' turn to raise an eyebrow. She opened her mouth to speak but he reached between them, clicking the stop button on the recorder and slipping it back into her hip pocket. _

"_I wondered if you had dinner plans tonight."_

_Lois reached up and ran her finger down his cheek. She smiled, her eyes searching his._

"_You tell me."_

_He wrapped his arms around her waist and carried her away from the exposing light of the street lamp. As the darkness enfolded them, his lips found hers automatically. Water fell in cool droplets on her cheeks as he leaned toward her. The kiss was tender, his lips seeking gently for hers to respond. Lois needed no encouragement. She threw her arms around his shoulders and felt his smile as his mouth slanted over hers._

_Superman reached down and gathered her legs into his arms. Lois slipped the shoes from her feet and tucked them into her purse, settling into the familiar shelter of his embrace. She wasn't sure of it was his kiss or the fact that they were flying that sent a thrill of electricity through her, all the same she held him tightly, knowing he could fly her anywhere in the world with his eyes closed and at this rate he might have to.[/I_

--------------------------------------------

Lois leaned her face against the towel hanging on the nearby wrack and patted dry her freshly washed face. She slipped Clark's flannel off of the back of the door, snuggling into the soft fabric. Lois opened the door and wrapped the flannel more tightly around herself. It was unseasonably cool for June and the warmth of the sun had given way to a brisk evening breeze that invariably found entrance into the old house. She padded down the hallway and her eyes momentarily locked with the amusement-sparkled gaze of Martha Kent that looked back at her from beyond the glass of the mounted picture frame.

Lois paused, looking into the other woman's face. There was such wisdom in her eyes, such gentleness couple with an unparalleled love that had guarded the secrets of the world's greatest hero with the ferocity only possible in a mother. How she wished she could bend Martha's ear about her current situation. Lois took a breath and straightened her shoulders, setting her course for downstairs.

As she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by an unfamiliar, yet not unpleasant aroma. Equally unfamiliar was the sight of Clark Kent in jeans and a t-shirt, his glasses nowhere to be found. His hair splayed across his forehead as he leaned forward to test the sauce on the wooden cooking spoon in his hand. Clark slurped quietly and after a moment he added a shake of cinnamon into the cooking pot. His eyes met hers, the second taste test hovering in front of his lips. He grinned and extended the spoon towards her.

"He cooks!" Lois exclaimed, crossing the room to accept his offer.

Clark blew gently on the spoon to cool it and held it before her, his hand just below to protect the floor a spills. Lois sipped from the spoon and gave him a surprised look. "This is fabulous! What is it?"

"Cinnamon Beef. It's my mother's recipe. I grew up on this. You wouldn't think marinara and cinnamon would mix so well but.." Clark gestured to the empty spoon and smiled, returning his attention to the simmering pot. After a moment, his brow furrowed. "I've cooked for you before."

Lois sat down at the table and smiled.

"Reheating moo goo gai pan in the microwave doesn't count, Clark."

"Well. I'll have you know my microwave has been broken for years, I used heat vision... so...that kinda…counts…"

Lois grinned and shook her head

"Anyway!" He looked at her pointedly, I **can** cook. My mother wouldn't have let me move out of the house without this basic skill!"

Lois bristled good-naturedly. "**MINE** did!" She took a sip of the ice tea in front of her. "Plus you barely had to cook at all! A home-cooked meal was always just a flight away!"

Clark laughed, their earlier tension just a memory, but there was much to discuss. Clark had been right about waiting for a full stomach to continue their conversation. She had the sinking suspicion he knew she was most understanding when her stomach was full. He knew her well. So much between them was the same, and yet Lois felt like she was getting to know him all over again. When her eyes fell made their way back to him, his expression was wistful, distant. Lois didn't need to guess where his thoughts had taken him.

Clark looked up and saw her sympathetic gaze.

"It seems so impossible that I won't be able to fly home and find her waiting for me with a plate full of food and an ear ready to listen." He sighed heavily lowering his head as he stirred thick pasta and cubes of beef into the sauce.

Lois rose from the table and stood beside him. He raised his arm, stretching it over her shoulders. Lois leaned against him, her arm wrapping itself around his waist. She squeezed gently.

"I can help with the listening part." Lois said softly, she tilted her face up to look at him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "And the cooking..."

He held the spoon in front of her mouth and she enthusiastically accepted.

"I'll handle the cooking." He smiled softly and returned her squeeze.

Lois smiled, licking the sauce from her lips. She was glad to see the sadness in his eyes seeming to be less sharp today. The road would be a long one but Lois was sure of Clark's ability to overcome. The loss of his mother had been a severe blow, but Martha had raised a man strong well beyond his physical abilities.

She patted his stomach and slid from under his arm.

"Where do you keep the bowls, I may as well make myself useful."

Clark smiled and turned off the burner. "Middle cabinet next to the fridge. Silverware is just below in the first drawer."

Lois retrieved the bowls and grabbed a few spoons from the drawer. She handed Clark the largest one and extended his hand for a bowl. The oven timer chimed and Clark handed her the bowls and reached into the oven to pull out a sheet cookie sheet loaded with garlic bread.

Lois snorted as she sat down. "I guess you save a lot of money on oven mitts."

Clark paused and looked down at his hand wrapped around the metal sheet.

"I guess so." He smiled sheepishly at her, dropping a slice of bread onto her napkin.

-------------------------------------------------

Thirty minutes later they'd made a sizable dent in the mountain of garlic bread and Lois' was finishing her third bowl of cinnamon beef. Clark smiled as Lois inhaled and patted her stomach.

"I'm so full." She said as she reached for another slice of bread.

Clark took a sip of iced tea, hiding his smile behind the glass. He took a deep breath of his own.

"I'm sorry you found about me the way you did, Lois." He said softly.

Lois' eyes flew to his, her mouth frozen mid-bite, teeth sunken into the buttery surface of the garlic bread. She broke off the bite and chewed slowly, Clark felt a little better judging from the jump in her heartbeat that she was as nervous as he.

Clark reached across the table, taking Lois' hand in his.

"I've never known someone I loved so much or trusted so completely other than my family. I've spent my whole life hiding who I am. I didn't know how to do anything else. The choices I made had nothing to do with not trusting you... I just didn't know what to do with that trust." His eyes searched hers for a reaction. Her expression was calm if not a bit guarded, he squeezed her hand gently and continued.

"I know my parents loved me, but I also saw the burden of my secret was on them. They made the decision when I was a child to take it on, but anyone I tell, I'm choosing that burden for them. And I love you so much, I didn't want to put it on you."

"Clark, loving someone is a burden. No matter all the good and wonderful things that come with it, there is still the fear and the worry it could all be ripped away." Lois covered his other hand with hers. "But if you let that fear isolate you, you never get to have the blessings that loved ones can bring. You have to take the good with the bad and know that ultimately, it's all worth it."

Clark nodded. "In the last few days I've really come to understand that. I really don't know how I would have gotten through all of this without you Lois. That night in the Planet, I felt like you'd given up on me and I really didn't blame you. I can understand why you were so angry. You thought I didn't trust you."

Lois' eyes studied the table. "That's part of it." she said softly.

Clark tilted his head to one side. He said nothing, encouraging her to go on.

Lois exhaled slowly. "Do you remember the stakeout last month?"

Clark nodded.

"When I thought Stanov had shot you, my feelings had nothing to do with Superman. I thought there was a chance that you had been…" Lois voice broke. "I thought you might have been taken away from me and it took that event to make me realize that I loved you. You." A tear slid down her cheek and dropped onto the top of Clark's hand. "But I loved you as Superman too and I didn't know what to do with that…"

Clark soaked in this new information, he pulled his hands away and rose. Clark strode quickly around the side of the table and knelt next to Lois' chair.

"Oh Lois." He gathered her hands in his, brushing his lips across each knuckle. "I'm so sorry." He cursed his foolishness. "I should have told you so long ago." He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head across her chest, heart aching at the pain he had caused her. "Forgive me."

His eyes fell closed in relief as he felt Lois' hands rest across his back.

They sat there like that for a moment, their embrace soothing the wounds of the past.

Finally Lois broke the silence. "I understand why you didn't tell me." she whispered.

Clark lifted his head and looked into her eyes and saw it was true, he exhaled at the love he saw shining there.

"The night you found out… I was actually going to tell you. I went to the roof to gain my nerve. I was headed downstairs when the fire broke out downtown. You opened the door to the roof just as I returned.

A slow smile spread over Lois face. "That explains why you looked like a deer in the headlights."

Clark smiled back and stood up, reaching down to wipe the last tear from her cheek. "I knew it was all over. You had that look on your face that you get when you're chasing a lead. When you started sniffing me in the elevator, it was all I could do not to fly through the roof of the car."

Lois laughed.

Clark took her hands and pulled her to her feet. He held out his arms and she stepped into his embrace. A waterfall of relief washed over him. It felt so good to hold her and not have to pretend to be someone he wasn't.

Lois looked up at him. "So no more secrets?"

Clark grinned and shook his head, then a thought occurred to him and the smile melted from his face.

Lois noticed and drew back her neck to look at him.

"What is it?" she asked apprehensively.

"Okay. Promise not to get mad?"

Lois' eyes narrowed slightly. "When you make that face, I can make no such promise."

"Jason already kinda knows."

"Knows…"

"… About me."

"What? When?"

"About a year ago."

"A year!"

"And last week he asked if we could visit the farm and I brought him here." Clark blurted.

Lois eyes were wide. "Boy you're really getting it all out of your system, aren't you!" She stepped out of his embrace and walked into the living room.

Clark followed her. "He wanted to visit his…Grandma Kent."

Lois stopped and turned around a look of understanding crossing her features. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot of information here. I feel like there has been this whole part of my life I didn't know about. Part of me is glad to not have to explain all of this to Jason, but the other part want to be there when he found out, you know?"

Clark crossed the living room and took her hand. "Well you kind of were. He figured it out the first week I was back." He smiled wryly. "I need to not stand next to a television monitor when a story on Superman is running."

Lois snorted and rolled her eyes. "I guess I should be surprised. Child of two reporters, one of whom has x-ray vision, he wouldn't be in the dark for long."

Clark stepped closer and smiled down at her. "You're just mad he figured it out first."

Lois exhaled. "A year."

"Yeah."

"Well at least we don't have worry that he can't keep a secret. This [Bis[/B the last secret right? No more things I need to know about floating around that head of yours?"

Clark shook his head. "Nope." His smiled widened. "Did I mention the I can shoot fire from my eyes?"

Lois laughed and draped her arms around his neck. "With my cooking and your broken microwave, we need all the help we can get."


	12. Memory

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twelve - Memory

_  
The winter wind whipped across the rooftops of Metropolis, finding its greatest protector perched atop a monolithic high rise. His cape danced with the air current, its crimson tip snapping with the angry force of the wind. Below, the people of the city bustled quickly to and fro, their faces barely visible beneath layers of warm clothing. He could hear their rushed footsteps as the hurried to seek shelter from the icy temper of the weather._

But for the howling of the wind, the city was quiet today, the chill had kept even the criminals indoor and out of sight. Were it not for the ebony locks the wind occasionally blew across his forehead, he may never have noticed the cold at all. A riot of colors stretched across the sky as the sun began its slow descent beyond the horizon. The sun's warmth and energy offered little comfort. He sighed and looked down at his hands the crisp document was already showing signs of wear from countless readings. Tears blurred his vision as he fixed his gaze on the page. 

Krypton...located.

The tears in his eyes sizzled, steamed, and then vaporized as he focused more intently. The 'o' in Krypton began to blacken and smoke, soon the entire paper was set ablaze. He let the paper slip from his fingers to be caught up in the chaos of the wind, the burning pieces scattering in every direction.

His gaze followed a random fragment as it skittered off the rooftop, breaking apart and falling over the edge of the building and out of his sight. He drew his knees toward his chest and wrapped his cape around his body, trying to shut out the isolation he felt and the glimmer of hope that both lifted and broke his heart all in the same moment. His gaze traveled down to the city below. Things had fallen back into a normal rhythm since Zod's attempt at ruling the world had been squelched with one red blast from their native sun.

A twinge of longing pulled at him. He envied the sights that monster and his minions had taken for granted. His eyes had never seen the glow of the red sun. He didn't know if there were mountains or lakes that peppered the landscape. Did Krypton have fields like the ones he had seen growing up in? His parents. His father. The only times he'd seen his parents was through the glimmer of a hologram in the fortress. It seemed monumentally unfair that somehow Zod had once looked upon his father's face, in the flesh and he himself had been denied it all these years…but now…

Did he dare hope?

He tilted back his head and regarded the sky; a land, a society, a planet that he'd never seen with his own eyes seemed to call to him from beyond the reach of his most focused gaze. 

He marveled that it was humanity that tracked the maps of uncountable galaxies and somehow located his home, giving him cause to leave when his love for them would have him stay. He couldn't guess the time it would take to make this venture, when or even if he would be able to return. His thoughts turned to his mother, her wrinkled hand clasped to her mouth, tears falling down her cheeks as she read the paper he had set before her.

Martha had spent a long moment staring unseeingly past the document at the warped oak table his father had built.

"And... they say there is a chance there could be... survivors." Her tones had been guarded.

"Yes." His response had come hesitant and quiet as if his word alone could break her heart.

"I see." She had turned the paper over as if to look for more information, something to ease the situation in which they were trapped. Finding the page to be blank, her hands shook as she folded it in half and slid it across the table toward him.

"It doesn't mean anything." His voice was constricted and hollow, his words clanging falsely between them.

"Clark Kent, you have never been one to lie to your mother. Please do not begin now." She impatiently brushed a tear from her cheek and laid her hands over his.

He wrapped his hands around hers and lifted them to his lips. He kissed the backs of each hand, wishing he could take away the pain in her eyes.

"I'm not going to do anything about it." His eyes locked intensely on hers. "_**This**__ is my home. __**You**__ are my home. I can't just give that up for the chance..."_

Martha squeezed his hands gently. "Clark, I have seen you save countless lives and do endless amounts of good. I've seen you put your own life on the line for the people of this planet. It's in your very nature to be a hero and it has nothing to do with your physical strength. Your greatest power has always been your ability to love so deeply, so unselfishly. If there is a chance you could rescue even one of your own people, it would haunt you for the rest of your life to have not done everything you could to help."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you saying you want me to go?" he asked incredulously.

Martha stifled a sob that began and ended in the depths of her chest. When she lifted her eyes to his, they were shining with tears.

"Oh Clark, everything in me wishes this news had never come, that you would have no reason to go, for however long it may take." Her eyes dropped down to their joined hands. "But then I think that somewhere out there could be a mother, who never got to see the amazing man her son has grown into." Her breath escaped in a sob and her hands slipped from his as she reached into the pocket of her slacks for a handkerchief. "I couldn't live with myself if I made you stay. Because, I know you would if I asked, and with all the selfless love you have shown to me and to the world, I can't muster it within myself to ask that of you."

Clark lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

The silence stretched torturously out between them. Martha sipped her coffee and Clark concentrated on scratching behind Shelby's ears as the old dog looked up at him with wide, trusting eyes.

"Are you going to tell Lois?" Martha asked after a time. Her voice was neutral and calm as she raised her eyes to her son.

Clark exhaled.

"I don't know." He whispered.

Martha paused momentarily as she raised her coffee mug to her lips.

"With everything that's happened, I don't know what to do, if I should do anything at all. She doesn't remember… us. Maybe it's better that way. Maybe the less she knows, the less it will hurt. When I…" Clark's voice trailed off and he focused on rubbing out a smudge on the table.

Martha set down her mug and looked at him squarely. "From what I know about Lois Lane, she isn't one who likes to be in the dark."

He'd had no answer for her. His mother had always been his rock, his source of wisdom, he'd lost track of the times she had lent him council and her advice had always been the best route.

But this time, he didn't know if he should follow his head or his heart. He would go to Lois, play it by ear and let her decide.

With that he had embraced his mother. They didn't say goodbye, but they both knew there was a chance that they would not see each other again.

Now, sitting from his vantage point above Metropolis, the world seemed so distant, so small...until...

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her tone was quiet and conversational but his ears tuned immediately to her voice as if she were right beside him.

His gaze traveled downward, across the rooftops until his eyes rested on the Daily Planet where Lois stood looking at him from beneath the revolving globe. Even across the distance he could see her hazel eyes looking at him in questioning concern.

They had not seen much of each other since Zod's defeat, even as Clark he had avoided her, acting busy whenever she was near. With every fiber of his being tried not to regret the choice he'd made to take her memory from her.

Their gazes held each other as he landed beside her. His eyes held the longing for what they'd had if only for a fleeting and perfect moment, hers held the unrestrained love for him that he'd always been able to find there.

But there was no recognition of the love they had shared, no twinkling mischief of a secret between only them. In that moment his heart shattered within him. He was alone. And it had been his choice. Her knowledge of him had nearly gotten her killed. And her love for him had nearly broken her heart. If he'd had to choose between his own heartbreak and hers, there was no choice to be made.

The agony was living with his decision.

_She regarded him nervously, smoothing a strand of hair behind her ear as she wrapped her winter coat more snuggly around her body._

"How are you?" He asked quietly, trying not to let his sorrow creep into his voice.

"I'm...weird, actually." Lois shook her head slightly as if to clear the cobwebs. "Everyone around me is still talking about the 'story of the century' that I can't seem remember even happening!" She threw her hands into the air and paced in front of him. "All people can talk about is General Zod and his army of three. Everyone in the bullpen wants to hear about what happened when they flew out the window with me and Lex Luthor, only, the jokes on me because I can't tell them! I feel like I'm going insane! One minute I am so angry I could choke Jimmy with his bowtie and the next, I read one of Gil's fluff pieces and I cry for an hour! I'm wondering if I took more than a blow to the head and someone slipped me crazy pills or something. But you know what? I don't need to remember what happened in order to write about it! I'll find an angle and next thing you know I'll be trying on my Pulitzer dress!" She ended in a huff and the hood of her coat fell over her eyes.

He smiled in spite of himself at her tirade. If there was anything he loved about her it was her tenacity and spirit. And she had both in spades. When his eyes fell on her face, he found her looking up at him, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What is it?" He asked, shifting somewhat nervously under her scrutiny.

Lois shook her head again. "No - I…It's just…you…never mind." She was quiet for a moment and then she turned to him. "It's just, when I look at you… I feel like…I should know something. Something in the back of my mind…" She snapped her fingers in front of her a few times. "Right on the tip of my tongue…"

His eyes flickered downward for a moment and then looked past her to the buildings beyond. When she spoke again, the familiar tone of 'Lois on a story' crept into her voice.

"What happened, Superman?" Her eyes were fixed on his face, unblinking, not missing a single bat of his eyelashes.

"What do you mean, Lois?" He walked past her and laid his hands on the ledge of the wall.

"You were there. You gave me the same sound bytes as the rest of the press, when you usually save _**something**__ exclusive for me. I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me." Her eyes narrowed slightly, "and you always chew your lip like that when you don't want to tell me something." She put her hand on his shoulder and gently turned him towards her._

He opened his jaw slightly and released his lip from between his teeth. The same things he loved about her, the tenacity and spirit, were the very things that would inevitably lead her in the direction of his secret.

And the next time she looked at him and truly saw him, he didn't know if he would have the strength to take it away.

He straightened his posture and turned away from her, not wanting her to see the torment in his eyes. "Let it go, Lois." He stopped and turned his head toward her. "Please."

Her heels clacked on the marble of the rooftop as she followed after him. "Wait a minute. You're the only one who knows what happened to me. You're supposed to be 'a friend' so be one and tell me what's going on!" She stepped in front of him and whirled to face him.

"I can't!" he shouted, much louder than he intended. Her hurt expression pierced his heart and he fumbled to gain the ground he had lost. "I'm sorry. There are just some things you shouldn't remember."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lois took a step toward him. "What things?" She put her hand on his forearm and looked intently into his eyes.

He felt his control of the situation rapidly unraveling. He couldn't think when she stood so close to him, when she looked at him that way.

His hand reached out involuntarily, cupping her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch reflexively as she had done before. Her face inclined toward his, her lips parted invitingly.

Every cell in his being wanted to rush forward and hold her, to kiss her and confess everything, just to see her _**see**__ him one last time. His eyes fixated on her mouth, he leaned toward her._

It would only take one kiss.

He remembered himself and stopped, his lips inches from hers. Lois stood with her eyes closed in anticipation of his kiss.

I have to put some distance between us. 

_He dropped his hand from her cheek and let it fall back to his side. He stepped away, the muscles in his jaw leaping beneath his skin as he clenched his teeth. He knew what needed to be done. If he couldn't return, he didn't want to leave her behind hoping for a love that could never come. He took a breath._

There was only one way.

"You didn't lose your memories from bumping your head." He blurted out, the words tumbling gracelessly from his lips.

He heard her intake of breath as mouth opened momentarily then closed as if she was afraid to voice the question her heart demanded the answer to.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her heartbeat thrummed in his ears. "How?"

"I… took them." The words were softly spoken but he could nearly hear them slam into Lois. He set his jaw and turned around to face her, his expression carefully blank and emotionless.

Lois stood frozen in front of him. A macabre parade of emotions filtered through her eyes; confusion, shock, disbelief and finally pain.

"You…took them?" Her voice was quiet, measured, her eyes filled with disbelieving tears as she raised her gaze to his. "You mean… intentionally?" Her eyes narrowed again in accusation.

His firm stance began to falter beneath the weight of her tears. He looked away. "The information you discovered…it could have gotten you killed and I couldn't let-"

"You couldn't let me keep my own memories?" Her eyes were wide with shock, with fury. "Who do you think you are?" She words sputtered from her as she advanced toward him. "You may be able to fly and bend steel in your hands, but you're not God!" She collapsed into tears and leaned against the wall as the strength left her knees.

He stepped forward reflexively to help her.

"Don't!" Her hand arced violently through the air as she pulled away from him. "Don't touch me. How dare you. What gives you the right?" her voice shook with the force of her anger fueled by the breaking of her heart

She stepped away and turned her back to him.

"Lois-" he began, hating the pain he was causing her and doubly hating the necessity of it.

Lois raised her hand to halt his words. "Give them back." She said quietly, her voice shaking.

He sighed softly. "I can't do that."

"Can't?" She spun around to face him, her eyes ablaze with anger and pain. "Or won't?"

They looked at each other in tense silence, their eyes unblinking, willing the other to relent.

She broke their connection and looked at the floor. "I need to not see you for a while." She said quietly, her voice pierced his heart like a dagger.

He stood by helplessly, knowing he had accomplished what needed to be done, but that knowledge was of little comfort to him.

He lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Lois," he whispered. "I did what I thought was best. I never meant to hurt you."

"Please. Just go." she said, her wall of enraged defense beginning to give way to the flood of tears waiting to burst forth. She took a shuddering breath and her voice cracked pitifully. "Please!"

His vision blurred as he gazed at her through tears of his own. He lifted off the roof. She never turned to look at him as he watched her form grow smaller and smaller as the distance between them grew.

As he reached the sky, a cloud blocked his view of her. "Goodbye, Lois." he whispered, and set his course north to make the final preparations of his journey. He prayed the light of hope would guide him as he rocketed toward the blackness of the space, searching for his family, his people, while leaving behind the only home he'd ever known.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lois sat on the couch in the living room, snuggled within the circle of Clark's arms. Their long talk had dissipated into a comfortable silence, giving Lois' mind time to go over and reflect upon the details of their relationship.

So much had happened. So many years lost.

Lois remembered that day on the rooftop with regret. When the pedestal she'd always kept him on came crashing down around her. In a moment, the one person she trusted with her life, who she never thought could, had hurt he more than she had ever thought possible. When she told him to go, hadn't didn't realized how long it would be. Lois cursed her temper and her mouth.

His decision had been made. She'd made it for him. And in the time he was gone, a part of her had shut down, and she had feared it would never return. For all her anger, she wanted to desperately to see him again.

It hadn't been long after that she'd found out she was pregnant and she had never been more confused. Her memory may have failed her but she'd known that there was only one pair of arms she could ever imagine herself in. Her body remembered what her mind could not.

Her anger, she found, was no match for the all consuming pain that replaced it. She was flooded constantly by conflicting emotions that she could only partially blame on her hormones.

Day after day she would go to the roof, waiting for him to descend from the heavens and land before her as he always had. Days turned into weeks, and neither she nor the rest of the world had heard from or seen the Man of Steel. As weeks passed into months, the more swollen her belly grew, the more her hope that she would ever see him again, faded.

She didn't know where he had gone. In the darkest of nights she was tormented by nightmares of some faceless criminal had somehow managed the unthinkable and had taken him from her forever. But she never really believed…she couldn't. He was out there, somewhere.. and with his sudden disappearance, she found her heart had followed him.

When Jason was born she looked into his eyes as saw the reflection of his father. She had marveled at the impossible wisdom that seemed to shine in his tiny sparkling eyes. His arrival had shone a light of happiness back into her life after months of dwelling in darkness. Watching him grow, she had dared to try to live again.

If Jason had wondered about the whereabouts of his father, he never voiced them. The issue remained dormant for a few years until halfway through Jason's first month of kindergarten when the teacher sent home a note announcing a Career Day Show & Tell in celebration of Father's Day.

Richard had walked in on her private moment in the copy room, noticing the tears that streaked her face.

Then and there he'd offered to stand in for Jason's father, never asking questions, only offering his friendship and his support. Lois had hesitantly agreed.

That night, Jason had come home filled with excitement. Richard had told his class all about his job at the Daily Planet and about his plane and how he'd seen the world. Jason never stopped talking about Richard and Lois had been so grateful, that when Richard has asked her to dinner, she'd accepted.

Before she could blink a year had passed and somehow she'd found and engagement ring on her finger. She wasn't sure how everything had spun out of control so quickly.

Then Superman appeared outside the window of her doomed flight and as he brought the plane to a safe stop on the ground, her world had only just begun to spin.

Memories she'd thought long gone had come screaming back to the surface, scars from his disappearance, his betrayal had once again become open and painful wounds.

And now here she sat, in his arms his fingers playing with her hair, his love for her glowing from behind the blue of his eyes.

Lois shifted out of his embrace to look at him more intently. He must have noticed her expression because the gentle smile on his face melted away into curiosity.

"Uh oh."

"What?" Lois asked.

"I know that look. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing…just…I was thinking about the past, questions I still have…"

"I've never known you not to have a question, Lois. Is it something I can help with?" Clark smiled and twined his fingers with hers. "I'm quite enjoying this totally truth, no secrets thing we have going."

Lois returned his smile if not somewhat distractedly.

"I was thinking about the night you left."

Clark's expression grew serious and he nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"I was thinking about what a horrible day that was…for both of us."

Clark shook his head. "You had every right to be angry…and in a way it was intentional on my part. I was pushing you away on purpose. I thought that if you hated me it would be easier on you when I left."

Lois lifted his fingers to her lips and kissed the back of his hand.

"I was angry. But I didn't hate you. I…never could." She hugged their clasped hands to her chest and snuggled closer to him. "But I do wonder about that day…"

Clark kissed the top of her head and wrapped his free arm around her shoulder, his fingers combing her hair gently away from her temples.

"About what memories were lost?"

Lois nodded silently.

Clark rested his chin on the crown of her head and was quiet for a moment. He exhaled and she could feel the warmth of his breath across her hair.

"It was mostly the Clark Kent thing." He ran his fingers randomly over her arm. "I'd just found out about Krypton being located and I didn't think it would help matters to tell you. I thought it would have just made it harder on you."

Lois nodded again. "It would have." She paused. "But looking back, I wish I had known then what I know now."

"I'm so sorry, Lois." He chuckled wryly. "You know sometimes it amazed me, that no matter how much I tried to protect you from everything else in the world, it was always me that ended up hurting you."

"That's what happens when you have secrets, Clark. Little by little they burrow into a relationship and destroy it from the inside out."

"I guess I still have a lot to learn." Clark laid a kiss on the top of her head.

"Well then it's lucky for you that you have a very very good teacher." Lois craned her neck back and smiled widely at him.

Clark smiled back in relief and hugged her tightly against him.

"**Very** lucky."

The amiable silence returned and they sat wrapped in each other's arms snuggled in the comfort of each others company. The grandfather clock in the corner of the room kept watch over them as the minutes crept by.

"Clark?"

"Mmm" his voice was sleepy as if he'd been dozing off.

"The memories… could I… I mean is it possible-"

"To get them back?" he asked softly.

"Yeah." she sat up and turned to look into his face.

"Are you sure you want them? Part of the reason for everything was because I couldn't stand you being in pain."

Lois's eyes flitted back and forth nervously for a moment. After a beat her eyes met his in determination. "Clark, we are the sum of our experiences. There is a piece of me missing right now. For better or worse, I'd like to know what has been hidden from me all these years." Lois reached out and touched his cheek. "And when it comes to us, I don't want there to be anything I've forgotten."

Clark straightened up and regarded her with anxious eyes. "Well, there is one way…"

"Really? How?" Her excitement and curiosity bubbled up inside of her at the possibility of regaining what she'd lost.

Clark reached out ran the pad of his thumb gently across her lips and she shivered at the gentleness of the touch.

"Clark…" She leaned forward finding now that she wanted the kiss for more than the information it would bring.

He leaned forward, holding her face in his hands with such care she felt as though he thought she might break beneath his fingertips. Clark's head lowered toward hers, his lips inches away.

Suddenly, he pulled back, his eyes distant as he listened to a cry for help.

"You've **got** to be kidding."

The tension in Clark's body left with his laugh. "I'm sorry, Lois"

He rose from the couch and in a blurry spiral of motion, his flannel melted away and he stood before her in the primary colors the world would recognize.

He planted a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I'll try not to be long." His eyes broadcasted his love as he turned toward the door.

And with a gust of wind, he was gone. Lois sat for a moment, completely still, her body still tingling with anticipation of his kiss. She blinked once, twice, before flopping dramatically face down on the couch.


	13. Heaven

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Thirteen - Heaven

Lois was still laying face down on the couch when her cell phone chirped a muffled and inappropriate rendition of 'Endless Love' in her purse. She knew who it was before looking at the display. Last year, Richard had given himself his own ring tone on her phone and she hadn't had the presence of mind to change it.

A sliver of dread slid through her as she dragged herself off the couch and plucked the phone from her purse.

"Hi, Richard." She said, trying to sound polite.

"Hello, Lois." came his reply in that same strained polite tone.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

Lois tapped her finger on the wooden door jam and tried to resist pulling away some of the loose flecks of paint. "So… What's up?"

"I was calling to check on Clark and his phone was out of range. Since I know you went with him all the way to Kansas…" his tone shifted slightly and Lois' eyes narrowed momentarily.

"Clark's not here at the moment." Lois paused and searched her mind for an acceptable fib. Her mind fluttered absently to the times Clark had had to do the very same thing to throw her off the scent, "He … went to run an errand." Lois' lips broke into a grin at the truth that saving a town from an erupting volcano probably would classify as an errand for Clark.

Richard seemed to accept her explanation and went on with little pause. "I have Jason with me and he's been asking about Clark." There was a small silence on the other side of the line, when he spoke again his voice was more gentle. "Perry told me about Martha…"

Lois' hand curled more tightly around her phone and she blinked back the tears that sprang to her eyes. _Martha..._

"I know things between you and I are..." he trailed off and continued, "Anyway, Clark is a friend of mine too and I'd really like to be there for him, for the funeral. I can fly out and bring Jason. Then you won't have to come out or put him on a plane alone."

Lois' features squeezed together as she closed her eyes. Richard was trying to be kind. She took a deep breath. "That would be fine, Richard. The funeral is Tuesday," Lois glanced at the worn calendar taped to the fading kitchen wall and marveled at how the time seemed to have passed so quickly. "Will you be able to make it out that soon?"

Richard cleared his throat. "Yes. I talked to Perry. He said whatever we needed to do was fine. And I won't… I won't stay out long, I'll leave Jason with you since school is over and he can spend some time on the farm."

Normally Richard's attempt to schedule her life would have gotten on her on her nerves, but today he seemed to be genuinely trying to make things easier. Lois was glad for that.

"Thank you, Richard." Lois exhaled sadly.

Richard paused for a moment, "I haven't told Jason, I wasn't sure if you would have wanted me to."

"Thank you." Lois swallowed thickly. "I'll tell him."

Richard sounded unsure. "Do you want me to get him now?"

Lois hesitated. She didn't want to tell Jason over the phone, but then she didn't want him to fly all the way to Kansas to have the news dropped on him right before the funeral. And Richard didn't know how close Martha and Jason had become... Lois sighed. There was no perfect solution. It would be hard either way. "Yes…please. "

Lois walked back to the couch and sat down. She angrily batted away a tear that slid down her cheek. Falling apart would have to wait.

She heard Richard speaking softly in the background. There was a bit of silence and she heard the phone being given to Jason. Lois wiped her damp palms on her jeans.

"Hi, Mommy." Just the sound of his voice brought fresh tears to her eyes.

It was a moment before she could reply. "Hey, baby." She tried and failed to keep the tears from her voice. Lois cleared her throat. "How are you, Honey?"

"I'm good. School is over and Miss Watson gave me a ribbon for perfect attemance."

"Attendance?"

"I think so. I don't know what it is, but I like the ribbon." His voice lilted and bounced with the smile on his face.

Lois could se it so clearly in her mind's eye. She smiled and dabbed her eye with her sleeve. "That's good, honey. It means you didn't miss any school this year."

"Cuz I'm strong!" Jason exalted.

"Yes, you are." Lois chewed nervously on her lip. "Jason, is Richard standing beside you?"

"No, he went to finish making dinner, something in a can. I can eat it right?"

"Yes, honey, you can eat it. Just not too much…can you take the phone into your room? I need to talk to you about something." Lois cleared her throat again.

"Are you okay, Mommy? Your voice sounds funny." Lois heard the sound of a door closing in the background.

"Are you in your room, baby?" Her fingers fidgeted nervously with the fringe on a nearby throw pillow.

"Yes." His voice was tinged with apprehension.

Lois took one more deep breath. "Jason, do you know why I'm in Smallville?"

Jason's voice was sad on the other end of the line. "Because Da-" Jason's voice lowered secretively, "Clark's Mommy is sick and you're being his friend."

Lois closed her eyes. "That's right honey. And you know sometimes… people who get sick, go to sleep, right?" 

"Yeah."

Lois pursed her lips together, her fingers holding the phone so tightly her knuckles whitened. "Well... sometimes, when someone is very sick, they go to sleep and they don't wake up. They go to Heaven instead."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Jason?" she prompted gently.

"Did…Grandma Kent go to sleep?" His voice was small and quiet.

A tear dripped from Lois' face onto her hand. "Yes, she did. And then… she went to Heaven to be with Clark's Daddy, your Grandpa Kent."

"Is Heaven far away?" Lois heard him sniffle quietly.

"It's way up in the sky, with God and the angels." Her arms ached to hold him; her heart broke to hear his sorrow over the phone. She fleetingly wished Clark were here to fly her to her son.

"Grandma Kent is with the angels and Grandpa Kent too?"

"That's right."

"Can…Daddy take us to visit them?" Jason's little voice broke. "If they are in the sky, Daddy… he could take us up…"

Lois leaned forward, holding her forehead with one hand, the phone to her ear with the other. She hid behind the curtain of her hair as if it would somehow protect her from the pain in her son's voice.

"No, honey. Even Daddy can't fly us all the way to Heaven." Lois covered her mouth to stifle the shuddering sob that fought for exit from her lungs. "We have to wait, until we're older before we can go."

"Oh…" Jason whispered. He was quiet for another moment and Lois pressed the phone firmly against her ear, wishing she could see his face and how he was taking all of this.

"But Richard is going to bring you here to Smallville…on Tuesday we're going to go to church with Clark and we'll go to Grandma Kent's funeral."

There was another sniffle on the other end of the line. "What's a funeral?"

"Well, all the people who loved Grandma Kent will be there; Uncle Ben and me and Clark and a whole bunch of people from Smallville. And we will remember about what a great woman she was and say goodbye."

"Can she see us from Heaven?"

"Of course baby." her voice came in a whisper.

"I'm going to color her a picture. Is that ok, Mommy?"

"I know she'd love that, Jason." Lois closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. Her son was so much braver than she was. "I love you so much and I miss you. I can't wait to see you so I can hug you."

"I love you too Mommy."

"Honey, can you get Richard? I need to talk to him a little bit more. I need you to go and pack up some clothes for your trip to Smallville ok? "

"Ok, Mommy." Jason replied. He paused a moment. "Mommy?"

"Yes, Baby?"

"Is Clark very sad?"

Lois pulled the phone away from her ear as her emotion found its voice in a shuddering breath, tears flowing freely down her face. "Yes he is. But we both know how strong he is, right?"

"Right."

"And he'll be alright. But he just needs us to love him extra because he misses his Mommy."

"I will color him a picture too." Jason said seriously. "Bye, Mommy."

"Bye, Baby."

The phone rattled as Jason passed it back to Richard.

"Hi" Richard began searchingly.

"Hi." Lois sniffled a bit and began rummaging through her purse for a tissue. "How is he?"

"He seems… ok."

"I wish I could be there. I didn't want to tell him like this I-" her fragile composure was quickly losing ground to the anguish in her heart.

"I'll take care of him, Lois. We'll be in Smallville before you know it." There was a pause. "He's strong…" The end of the sentence went unspoken and Lois was grateful. Richard had had his suspicions about Jason's parentage but they'd never discussed it. He didn't ask, she didn't tell.

"Thank you, Richard….really."

With that they made their arrangements and said their goodbyes and the flood of emotion Lois had been so carefully holding back came catapulting forward. She wrapped her arms around a small throw pillow, wetting it with her tears; the reality of her dear friend's passing crashing into her. Her shoulders shook with sobs as Lois mourned for Clark and the mother he had lost. She mourned herself and for Jason who had known Martha for far too short a time. Lois found a quiet comfort in knowing that Martha had lived a life full of love both given and received, and the knowledge that that love would live on in her son…in her grandson.

It was her legacy.

Lois sat up, her eyes red from the tears she'd shed. She cast a final look at the television where the news was still covering Superman's heroic acts and a small town in Rome's deliverance from an earthquake. The camera bounced back and forth between a blue and red blur racing from building to building and then out of sight to the faces of the town's people, their eyes alight with tears and gratitude.

Lois pressed a button on the remote and the picture faded into darkness. Her eyes scanned the room slowly until they fell onto the grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

_7:30pm._

It felt so much later. Shelby padded up to the couch and laid her head in Lois lap. Lois ran a hand over the dog's silky fur, her eyes dropping exhaustedly. She slowly rose from the couch and began her ascent up the stairs.


	14. Clarity

**There are three, count em three illustrations with this chapter. If you are interested in seeing them, they are posted on my LiveJournal - link located in my profile. This chapter had to be one of my favorite to write. I feel a bit guilty for all the tears and angst. Consider this my apology...**

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Fourteen - Clarity

The fingers of the approaching dawn stretched across the sky, as Clark made his way west toward Kansas. The sounds of Lois' tear-filled breathing echoed through his sensitive ears. Her sobs had long since quieted and her heart was now beating in the slow measured rhythm of slumber. 

Amidst the chaos of the events a world away, he'd heard every tremor in her voice as she'd spoken to their son. His heart had broken with hers when the words had fallen painfully from her lips. Clark had been pulling a city bus from a ditch when his son's voice had reached his ears; _"Is Clark very sad?... I'll draw him a picture."_

Clark had swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked back the tears that threatened to obstruct his view of the job at hand. He'd heard the sobs overtake Lois as she disconnected the call and he had ached to be with her.

Now in the silence of the night sky, he picked up speed, the desire to be home when Lois woke up paramount in his heart.

It was a mere moment later he found himself flying over the barn and slipping silently through the open window of his bedroom. The sun gave its first appearance on the horizon as he slipped into fresh clothes and made his way down the hallway toward the guestroom.

He found Shelby stationed sleepily against the door, her body stretched out in total relaxation. She lifted her head and regarded him with bleary eyes as he approached.

"At ease." Clark whispered, bending down to pat the dog affectionately.

He rose and poised his hand on the knob of the bedroom door. The door opened soundlessly as he pressed gently against it.

The early morning sunlight rose to greet him as the door inched open. Every filtered ray rushed strength to his sore muscles and energy to his weary mind. His gaze lowered from the window to the bed beneath it. There lay Lois, lost within the downy folds of the crisp white comforter, her face relaxed in sleep, her eyelashes fanned out across her cheeks.

Clark listened to the soft rhythm of her breathing and was transfixed by every rise and fall of breath. So focused was he on her sleeping form, that he miscalculated his step and his heel inadvertently found its way onto Shelby's tail.

The old dog shattered the silence of the room as she yelped, her toenails clacking loudly against the wood of the floor as she scrambled to her feet.

Clark froze and squeezed his eyes shut, his features scrunched together. He peeked through one eye and found Lois still fast asleep, her hair tumbling over the side of the pillow.

He turned his attention to Shelby who meandered her way down the hall, pausing only momentarily to cast a reproachful look over her shoulder. Clark whispered an embarrassed apology.

As he stepped into the room, his eyes were fused to Lois' face. He was lost in her beauty and the depth of his love for her. She looked so peaceful. These last few days had been hard on her as well. Clark sat gently on the edge of the bed, sinking into the welcoming softness of the mattress. His eyes took in every one of her features and with each one, he thanked God for bringing her into his life. He couldn't imagine how he could have gotten through this past week without her. 

Clark marveled at the idea of no longer having secrets between them. Clark felt more than a little like the prince who'd found Sleeping Beauty. He knew when her eyes opened, they would begin to figure out how to begin this life that they'd been given and with one kiss, questions would be answered. A thrill of joy rushed through him at the prospect of seeing the sparkle in her eyes that would display the whole of their memories together.

Clark smiled gently and turned his face to the window and closed his eyes, letting the sunlight soak into his skin. 

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Lois stretched luxuriously as the growing sunlight finally coaxed her out of unconsciousness. She had slept the sleep of the dead, emotionally exhausted from last night's conversation with Jason.

As she moved, her leg came into contact with a warm solid form. She reached down in an automatic response. But instead of Shelby's soft fur, her questing hand found a denim covered knee. Lois's eyes popped open to find Clark sitting beside her, the first rays of the morning sun caressing his face.

Lois' lips turned up in an unconscious response to his presence. She could get used to waking up like this.

"Hi." He said softly, brushing an errant strand of hair away from her face.

"Hi." Lois reached up and covered his hand with her own, turning her cheek into the warmth of his palm. "Are you just getting in now?" She asked, noticing the weariness in his face.

He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Sorry Honey, the earthquake ran late."

"Don't you need to sleep?" Lois eyes flickered with a moment of worry.

Clark's lips turned up gently. "This isn't the first night I've gone without it." His eyes lifted to the window and the sun that was even now teasing the horizon. "That's the perk of being solar-powered." He looked at her playfully from the corner of his eye.

He returned his attention back to the window, his features falling into a wistful expression. "The sun rises outside this window. When I was growing up, I used to come in here to watch it."

Lois sat up. She tugged the blankets around her and perched her chin on Clark's shoulder. He looked down at her, a gentle smile kissing his lips.

"This room has the best view in the house." His gaze held hers. Lois blushed and smiled back at him.

The sun began its glorious ascent into the sky and the pair watched in silence as the light crawled across the floor toward them. When the sun broke over the horizon, the room was saturated with light. Lois heard Clark sigh as the full splendor of the sunlight reached his face.

He looked like an angel sitting there, his eyes closed as he soaked in the energy the sunlight provided. She felt honored in a way to witness this communion, this private daily ritual that no one else on the planet would ever be privy to. Unconsciously her hand reached out in wonder to touch his cheek. She felt his gentle smile beneath her fingers and when his eyes opened, they seemed to have transferred the brilliance of the sun into their cobalt depths. The smile slowly melted from his lips and he turned to search her face. "Did you get enough sleep? You had…a difficult night." He whispered, his eyes broadcasting his sorrow.

It was Lois' turn to gaze thoughtfully out the window. "You heard."

"Yes." He whispered. "I'm sorry you had to do that alone." Clark took her hands between his, kissing the back of her hand.

Lois examined their combined hands and traced the line of their fingers with her vision. "I know" she said softly.

They leaned toward each other until their foreheads touched. Their breaths mingled in their close proximity and they found comfort for their sorrow in one another. 

Lois exhaled. "You've had so much on your shoulders this week, Clark." Lois said finally. "Hard as it was, this was one thing I wanted to spare you."

Clark sighed, his hands holding hers more tightly. "You know, sometimes I make it an entire minute without thinking of her?"

At that, Lois released his hands and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his hands tracing a lazy circle on her back.

"When you want to talk about her, I hope you know I'm here. It's the reason I came. To help." Lois laid a kiss on his shoulder.

"Thank you. You have…so much." He rested his chin on her shoulder. "It just doesn't feel real to me yet. I can still smell the last apple pie she baked. I still walk into the kitchen expecting to find her at the stove. He chuckled humorlessly. It all just seems so unreal. I guess I never prepared myself for a time without her."

"She's still with you, Clark. You have a lifetime of wonderful memories. Every time you think of or share them, she's with you. And I'm sure there are a number of stories to tell and you have someone to tell them to now. Me…Jason..."

Clark slow pulled away from her embrace. "Speaking of memories..." He looked at her with eyes full of meaning.

Realization slowly dawned on her. "Oh, no Clark…it's ok. We don't have to do that right now…" She lowered her gaze feeling somewhat selfish at the excited skip of her heartbeat.

Clark reached out and cupped her cheek. "It's okay. I want to make this right. I don't want there to be anymore unknowns between us. And one never knows when another earthquake will strike in California or a tornado in Iowa…" He offered her a small smile.

Lois fidgeted uncertainly. "Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes searching his even as she leaned into him.

Clark nodded, running his thumb over the curve of her cheek.

Lois exhaled nervously. "Okay. How does this work? What do I need to do?"

Clark bit his lip. "I haven't really done this before."

Lois' eyes widened.

Clark couldn't help but smile at her momentary panic. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." His smile faded and Clark's expression grew serious. "Close your eyes." He whispered.

Lois did as she was told and tilted her face up toward his.

Clark's lips descended on hers and Lois was lost in the sensation. His lips were soft against hers, brushing gently at first and then with increasing intent. There was a warm burst of air against her face as he exhaled a sigh of bliss. She answered with a sigh of her own and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him ever closer.

When the first memory was born into her consciousness, she jumped in surprise. Clark held her closer to him, acting as her anchor, as the sea of memories crashed over her.

Lois did as she was told and tilted her face up toward his.

Clark's lips descended on hers and Lois was lost in the sensation. His lips were soft against hers, brushing gently at first and then with increasing intent. There was a warm burst of air against her face as he exhaled a sigh of bliss. She answered with a sigh of her own and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him ever closer.

When the first memory was born into her consciousness, she jumped in surprise. Clark held her closer to him, acting as her anchor, as the sea of memories crashed over her.

First, there was a flash of their flight to Niagara Falls. The emotions of the moment rushed through her, primarily annoyance with being stuck on a fluff piece with of all people, Clark Kent. She remembered him sitting so innocently in the seat beside her, unaware of her frustration at the niggling suspicions in her mind that he could have gotten them a much cheaper flight. One with tights.

She felt Clark's smile as his lips swayed and slanted against hers. He was reliving her memories with her she realized in wonder. She returned his smile and chuckled at the absurdity of Superman flying coach.

A parade of images blurred past her mind's eye; Clark nervously holding her hand as they walked beside the Falls, her hair-brained attempt to force a confession out of the man who made Fort Knox look like a cake-walk, by jumping into the freezing river.

Clark's chest rumbled with laughter as they poured over the image of him pulling her out of the river and subsequently falling in himself.

Clark's lips grew softer, almost reverent as her revelation of his identity was displayed before them. Lois' fingers tightened around his shoulders, gathering the cloth of his shirt into her balled fists as the memory of their time spent in his fortress flowed languidly through her mind.

Lois found herself reveling in his kiss, her skin alive with sensation, his lips literally burning against hers. At the same time, she struggled to breathe, as wave after wave of sensory information flooded her. Lois' heartbeat thundered in her ears as she recalled every moment, every whispered word, and finally, every caress. She was besieged by an army of emotions that had been locked away in Clark's heart for all these years. She felt his love for her so strongly she was nearly overcome.

All too soon her memories darkened and there was an array of feeling ranging from helplessness to fury, accompanied by horrifying images as they found themselves once again at Zod's mercy. Lois' heart pounded against her chest as she relived her fear of Clark's defeat and gloried in his decisive and clever victory.

Suddenly they were in the copy room of the Daily Planet and Lois' heart broke anew as she read the pain in Clark's eyes, coupled with the self-sacrificing determination to stop the cause of her pain. In her mind's eye he took her in his arms, his sorrowful eyes filling her view…

All at once the memories ceased. Clark was silent and still against her, his breath coming warm and labored against her cheek.

When at last she opened eyes the tears that had been collecting behind her closed lids found release down her face. Her tearful gaze met with Clark's and she was surprised to see his eyes shining as well. Lois' eyes were wide with amazement, with knowledge. She held his hand so tightly that her knuckles were white with strain.

She released his hand from hers and reached out, her fingers touching his lips. His lips rose to meet her fingers with equal force, pressing a kiss against her finger tips. As her fingers slid over to touch his cheek, Clark reached up and wrapped his long fingers gently around her wrist. She eyed him quizzically for a moment before his lips found the sensitive skin in the center of her palm. He nuzzled his cheek against her fingers, his lips thoroughly kissing every knuckle as it passed.

Their gazes locked, their shared knowledge fusing them together, mind, body, and soul. He dropped one last kiss on the pulse point of her wrist before letting her hand slip gently from his.

He regarded her with trepidation, waiting for reaction to what had just occurred between them.

She pressed her fingers against her lips and closed her eyes, awash in the moment's revelation. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak. "I may have forgiven you too quickly." Lois peeked at him from behind her lashes, a small impish smile playing across her lips.

A look of worry flitted across his features and then broke into a grin in response to her smile.

Lois' smile dimmed as she leaned against him, safe in the circle of his arms. "Oh Clark… I can't believe you carried all of that alone for so long." She exhaled softly, snuggling closer to him.

"I would do it again to spare you the pain…"

"You better not. I appreciate the gesture and the sentiment, but if I find out you clocked me with another lip whammy you'll be on the business end of a hissy fit."

Her whole body bounced as Clark burst out laughing. "We can't have that…"

Lois was quiet for a moment, her mind whirling with new information and questions. She smiled at the thought of spending the rest of her life finding the answers to them.

"So…this 'hearing across the world' thing isn't an every day occurrence is it? Will I need to order birthday presents in Morse code?"

Clark grinned and rolled his eyes. "I know Morse code." At her expression he added quickly, "But no. My hearing is selective and I respect your privacy." A playful expression colored his face. "I do have something I never stop listening to."

Lois tilted her head in question.

"This." Clark touched his hand lightly to her chest, just above her heart. "Sometimes when I'm alone, I tune everything out and I let everything else fall away but that sound. I hear your heartbeat, slow and even, and I know that somewhere you're asleep, peaceful, and safe. And other times if I manage to smile at you just right, I hear it skip." Both of them smiled as her heart did that very thing. "Most of all, I like how it beats faster when I come into the room."

Lois' eyes narrowed even as she grinned. "So now you know all my secrets too?"

Clark grinned and pulled her onto his lap. He took her hand and covering it with his, placed it over his heart. Lois felt its strong steady beat beneath her fingertips. Lois' gaze traveled from their hands to his face. They smiled as one when their lips met and his heartbeat skipped beneath her fingers.

She settled into his embrace and they sat that way for a long time, totally comfortable, relaxed. Together, they watched the day begin outside the window. Lois was swept away with the beauty of it when Clark chuckled quietly.

Lois tilted her head to look into his face. "What is it?"

Clark's chuckle evolved into a melodious laugh. "I have to say I'm glad my hearing is so sensitive, because you my darling, could sleep through an atom bomb!"

Lois picked up a pillow and whacked him with it. "The perks of being a city girl." Her eyes widened. "City…Omigosh! Richard and Jason! We have to get them from the air strip! Richard is landing the plane at 7:30!"

"I know…" Clark said matter-of-factly. "They're running late though."

"How did -" Lois ran a hand through her hair. "Never mind. 'You heard, you heard.' I need to remember I'm in love with a man who can hear everything. Pretty soon you'll be listening in on my thoughts!"

Clark's chest vibrated with laughter. "If only. It would save me so much trouble." He grinned down at her, his eyes sparkling. He leaned forward and nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Did you say…love?"

Lois' face broke forth into a smile. "See this is one of those things you'd already know if you could read my mind." She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips to hers. This was a kiss of love in its purest form, a kiss of promise and commitment. Finally, there was nothing between them any longer but the love they shared. Lois groaned as she pulled away from him. "Now, scoot." She said breathlessly, holding her and against her flushed cheek. "I have to get dressed. Give me five minutes."

_Fifteen_ minutes later Lois descended the stairs, and Clark stood near the front door, keys in hand. He bit the inside of his lip trying and failing to conceal his amused smile.

Lois made a face at him as she brushed past him and stepped out onto the porch.


	15. Reunion

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Fifteen - Reunion

The gravel crunched beneath their feet as Lois and Clark made their way across the unpaved driveway to the rusty and well loved pick up truck parked near the barn.

"Are you forgetting something?" Lois lilted from behind him.

He turned around to see her regarding him while playfully dangling his glasses from one finger.

Clark smiled, drawing close to her and slid the frames off of her finger.

"Thank you." He murmured quietly, his hand trailed its way up her arm to her shoulder.

"What would you do without me?" she whispered.

Clark's eyes grew serious as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'd be lost."

The teasing smile melted from Lois' face. The morning sun shone down on the pair as their lips met and lingered before they walked hand in hand to the waiting pickup truck.

There was an amiable silence as Clark and Lois made their way to the airstrip to pick up Jason and Richard.

Clark's gaze was fixed on the road ahead, while his heart soared through the dappled clouds above them. His left hand rested lightly on the steering wheel while the fingers of his right intertwined with Lois'. Before long, his eyes were drawn irresistibly to the passenger seat where Lois pulled his hand in her lap. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed contentedly.

Clark's face spread into a grin, his heart bursting with happiness. Never in his wildest dreams did he dare hope for this day; Lois Lane sitting beside him, no secrets keeping them apart, no well meant facades or walls to climb.

She knew everything.

And she loved him.

And how he loved her.

Clark gave a sigh of his own and pulled his hand from hers, wrapping his now free arm around Lois's shoulders to fit her more closely against him. They came to a stop sign and he felt her head tilt upwards as she looked at him. Their eyes met and reflexively his lips dipped to meet hers in a kiss. What had been intended as a fleeting sign of his affection quickly evolved into an expression of pure joy. Lois' arms wrapped around his neck and her lips slanted and played, her teeth nipped and teased. Clark couldn't find it within himself to pull away until a short friendly honk from the car behind them wrenched them from their all-consuming embrace.

Clark's eyes snapped back to the road as he lifted a hand in apology, his eyes hazed dreamily as he pressed the gas pedal and the truck lurched forward. His smile widened as Lois giggled beside him, he could almost see the teasing sparkle in her eye but didn't dare look for fear a repeat performance would soon have him pulling the truck from a ditch on the side of the road.

"I do love it when you blush, Clark Kent." Lois grinned at him, her fingers walking up his shoulder and pulling playfully on his earlobe.

"It was nice of Richard to bring Jason." Clark blurted out attempting to regain the ability to see the road in front of him. He took a turn too fast after nearly having missed it, so focused was his attention on her.

"Yeah..." Lois said thoughtfully, her hand slipping back into her lap. "Things are still a bit awkward between us, but it's to be expected. He adores you though…I think he would have come even if Jason hadn't been a factor."

"He's a good man…" Clark said quietly, a twinge of guilt spreading through him.

Hearing his tone, Lois looked at him and finding his cheek out of her reach, planted a kiss on his shoulder. "Yes. But not the right one."

Clark smiled gratefully and squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"This will be good practice at Super-secret keeping. Having him with us overnight."

Lois clapped her hand against her forehead. "I nearly forgot! Is that going to be too awkward? I mean where are we going to put him? And what if you get called away on an…errand?!"

Clark chuckled at her tirade. "We'll figure something out."

Lois was quiet a moment.

"How much should we tell him?" She asked.

Clark made a left turn onto a dirt road leading out to the only expanse of Kansas field not covered in corn. The roof of the plane hanger came into view.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A rickety pickup truck made it's way toward them a cloud of dust following close behind.

"There they are!" Richard said, his voice bubbling with the practiced excitement grown ups performed for children.

"Mommy!!!!"

The truck came to a stop a few yards away and Jason was off and running, catching up with the dust cloud and momentarily disappearing from Richard's view as he ran around to the passenger side of the vehicle.

The driver-side door opened and Clark Kent in all of his epic awkwardness unfolded his considerable height out of the truck. He looked every inch the Kansas farm boy down to the scuffed work boots dirtied in what Richard guessed as so much more than mud.

Richard's eyes flickered over to Lois who was covered in the arms and legs of her son who had wrapped himself around her waist as she picked him up. She hugged him tightly, her eyes closing for a moment.

Clark made his way toward him, hand extended, a shy smile on his face. 

"Hi, Clark." Richard said, extending his own hand and shaking Clark's warmly. He pulled Clark toward him into a one armed hug. "I'm so sorry, man."

Clark nodded as he stepped back and adjusted his glasses. "Thank you, Richard. Thank you so much for coming."

Lois made her way around the truck towards them with Jason balanced expertly on her hip. "Did you guys have any trouble finding the place?" She asked, offering a small grateful smile.

Richard smiled back and looked around the small airstrip. "A little, it didn't exactly stand out among all those cornfields…" He reached out and tousled Jason's hair. "But old eagle eyes here spotted it before I did!

A look passed between Jason and Clark so quickly Richard almost didn't catch it.

Noticing the direction of his gaze, Clark coughed and gestured toward the truck. "It's going to be a little bit of a tight fit but it's not a long ride."

"Can I ride in the back with the hay?" Jason looked hopefully at Clark.

Clark opened his mouth to respond, an ascending smile on his face, but was interrupted by Lois, "You most certainly will not! You can sit on my lap!"

Jason's face screwed up into a sour expression.

Clark ran a hand through his hair and reached around Richard for their suitcases. "I'll take these for you." He plucked one. He turned to Lois, "You guys get buckled in."

Richard grabbed the other suitcase and followed Clark around the back of the truck.

"Did you ride in the back as a kid?"

Clark placed the luggage into a safe spot on the truck bed and pushed it down slightly to steady it. He turned to Richard and smiled impishly. "I didn't see the front seat 'til I was fifteen."

Richard let out a laugh and clapped a hand on Clark's back.


	16. Ride

_This is a short little featurette while I'm working on the "real chapter" because I feel guilty for having been away so long. _

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Sixteen - Ride

_Bump. Bump._

The truck's ancient shocks were no match for the Kong-sized potholes the tires were falling into.

_Bump. Bump._

Lois found herself wedged into the front seat of the pick-up with Clark driving on her left and Richard barely suppressing a smile on her right.

_BUMP!_

"Weeee!!!" Jason laughed joyously and bounced merrily on her lap.

Lois held Jason tight, convinced his head was inches from clanging against the aluminum roof of the truck.

"I have a sneaking suspicion you're hitting these pot holes on purpose." She reached up and braced her hand on the roof as the truck veered into another bottomless hole. "I don't recall the ride to the airstrip being this bumpy!"

Clark kept his gaze on the road, adopting a wide-eyed innocent look. "This is a shortcut!"

_BUMP!_

Lois blew her bangs out of her eyes and fixed Clark with a narrow-eyed glower. "Clark! Smallville is two miles across! ANY road is a shortcut."

Clark hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, focusing more intently on the "road." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and a fiendish smile stretching across his face.

"Lois."

"What?"

"Hill."

Lois tightened her arms around Jason, her eyes wide.

_**B U M P**_

"Cornfield! Cornfield!" Richard exclaimed his voice breaking with laughter.

Lois' fingers wrapped around Clark's shoulder in a vice-like grip, "Clark Kent if you go through that cornfield, I'm…going to get out and walk!"

Clark laughed and slowed down, the farm bursting into view as they passed the last row of corn.

A cloud of dust caught up with and passed the truck.

The cabin of the truck was silent and the smile melted from Clark's face as he turned to see Lois, expression.

Clark was convinced he was about to see the business end of "Mad Dog Lane" until;

"AGAIN!!!!" Jason's joyful voice bounced off the small enclosure.

Clark's eyes met Lois and twinkled with amusement as he replied.

"I'm sorry. Only one ride per customer."

Lois' face twitched as she tried and failed to maintain her sour expression.

"You can make good on your threat to 'get out and walk' now if you'd like Lois."

Richard watched as Clark chuckled to himself quietly and opened the driver-side door. He turned and extended his arms to Jason, who promptly scrambled from the death-grip he was entangled in and jumped into Clark's embrace.

Then with Jason resting effortlessly on his hip, Clark extended one hand toward Lois. A confident and teasing expression that Richard had seldom seen from Clark before bloomed into a smile as Lois took his hand and allowed him to help her from the truck.

The two shared a look as Lois reached toward him and took Jason from his arms. She harrumphed and cast her nose dramatically into the air and stomped toward the house.

Richard opened his own door and slid out onto the gravel of the driveway. He ran a hand through his hair and let the door slam shut. Both men made their way to the back of the pick-up and retrieved the luggage.

When their paths crossed, Richard let out a laugh.

"You lucked out, Kent." Richard said as he hoisted Jason's duffle bag onto his shoulder.

"How's that?" Clark eyed him quizzically, situating the larger suitcase so its wheels turned unhindered on the ground.

"I got the silent treatment for three days after teasing about putting my plane into a barrel roll. "

Clark's eyes widened.

"But you seem to possess the antidote to Mad Dog's temper." Richard heaved the last bag out of the truck. "You may want to bottle and sell that. You'll be a millionaire overnight."


	17. Edna & Lois

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Seventeen - Edna & Lois

Lois' dramatic stomp slowed as she neared the front porch. The welcoming wooden swing had been hanging empty for the last few days, but today it had found a companion.

An elderly woman sat perched the edge of the wooden seat, her hands folded primly in her lap. Her hair was neatly pinned into a bun and the late morning breeze had freed a few strands and seemed determined to loosen the rest of the confined locks. The woman's short legs were hidden beneath a demure ankle length skirt that brushed against the porch. The only thing out of place in this portrait of propriety, were the weather red tennis shoes peeping from beneath the skirt as she guided the swing back and forth with her toes. Beside the woman were two grocery bags, filled to the brim, their contents straining against the brown paper.

The woman started at Lois and Jason's approach. Her welcoming smile seemed somewhat surprised as she halted the swing and rose to her feet.

"Oh! Hello!" As she gathered her height, a smile tugged at Lois lips to find the woman was hardly taller than Jason. "I'm so sorry dear I hope you don't mind the imposition. I was waiting here in hopes of finding Clark Kent."

"You found him." Clark's voice burst cheerfully from behind Lois. Lois turned to see Clark resting the luggage against the side of the stairs, his face alight in joyful recognition. He took the steps two at a time and bent low to wrap his arms around the woman's middle, his exuberance nearly lifting her tiny frame into the air. "Mrs. Briesemeister! This is such a nice surprise!"

Mrs. Briesemeister's arms hardly circled half of Clark's broad shoulders, but she hugged him warmly. "My boy you are old enough to call me Edna!"

Clark unwrapped his arms from around Edna and stood up straight. He smiled boyishly down at the much shorter woman. "It still feels wrong!" He turned to Lois. "Mrs….Edna was my first boss. I used to pick apples from her orchard every summer."

Edna smoothed her hand over her hair and smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling. "As I recall you ate more than you put into the bushels!" She turned her warmth onto Lois. "It's why he grew to be such a strapping young man!"

Clark smiled embarrassedly and shuffled his feet. He cleared his throat and gestured in Edna's direction.

"Lois Lane, Edna Briesemeister. Edna lives at the farm on the other side of the cornfield. Edna, Lois is my partner from the Daily Planet and this is her son, Jason."

Lois balanced Jason more securely on her hip to shake the woman's hand. Edna's hands were tiny and weathered but her grip was warm and strong. "It's a pleasure to meet you Edna."

"Likewise, Lois," her attention turned to Jason, "and it's lovely to meet you as well young man!" She extended her hand and Jason reached out and shook it, smiling shyly.

In the distance Shelby's welcome bark came from the direction of the barn and Jason squirmed in Lois' embrace. Lois set him to his feet and he took off like a shot down the porch steps and back onto the gravel of the driveway. He was promptly tackled by Shelby and a cloud of dust hovered above the pair as they ran toward the barn.

"Oh to have that kind of energy again…" Edna said, her eyes following Jason as he scampered off in the direction of the barn. "Your son is beautiful Lois, he reminds me so much of Clark at that age."

A slow smile spread across Lois' face. "You knew Clark when he was a child?"

"Before that even I'm sure! I knew Martha back when she was a Hudson! I moved here from Maryland to attend high school and she was dating my husband Frank."

Lois' head tilted quizzically.

Edna noticed and smiled mischievously. "I stole him right out from under her." Edna's hands cut through the air as she gestured dramatically. "It was a terrible scandal. But then, I also introduced her to Jonathan so she was quick to forgive me, what with all the stars in her eyes. The Kents have been a staple in my life ever since."

Lois bit back a smile and peered at Clark out of the corner of her eye. He was not at all shocked by the story, in fact he was grinning from ear to ear nodding as if he'd heard it a million times before. Edna Briesemeister seemed to be a spitfire and Lois imagined the two of them would be fast friends.

Edna's eyes traveled beyond Lois, noticing Richard who was leaning against the house with luggage piled around his feet.

Clark clapped his hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry, Edna this is Richard White. He works at the Planet with Lois and I as well."

Edna reached past Lois and shook Richard's hand. "How nice! I'm so glad to see you have such wonderful friends, Clark."

"I'll need all the help you can get eating all this food!" Clark said, peering into the grocery bags. "You always did make enough food to feed an army!" He chided good naturedly.

Edna waved her hands dismissively. "Better in your hands than my Frank's! With his digestion, they don't call him 'Breeze master' for nothing!"

Clark's eyes widened as he caught her meaning and his laugh which had been rare as of late rang through the mid-morning air.

Clark clicked his tongue. "Shame on you, he's not here to defend himself!" He reached into the bag and pulled out an apple and rubbed it to shine against his shirt.

"Oh pish posh, he'd agree more loudly than anyone!" Edna's nose crinkled up as she smiled. "And don't eat your fill of apples! There is an apple pie in there that needs to be put away." Her smile dimmed slightly. "It's not as good as your mother's but then, whose ever were…"

Clark's face grew serious and he nodded.

Richard cleared his throat and looked at Lois.

Lois reached down and picked up the first of the grocery bags. "You know, Edna, let me take that pie inside and put it away while you and Clark visit. I need to show Richard where the luggage goes anyway."

Edna smiled. "Thank you dear. I only came over to drop off this food and to say hello. It was delightful to meet you. I hope we have more time to talk next time."

Clark plucked the second bag up from the swing and placed it gently into Lois' waiting arm. He smiled at her and opened the screen door. Richard already had a firm grip on the luggage and followed behind.

Edna's eyes followed Lois and Richard as they went into the house. Her smile faded as she reached over and touched Clark's hand and squeezed.

"How are you, dear?" her eyes searched his intently.

Clark offered a sad smile.

"I'm not sure." he said softly, his gaze traveling past Edna out to the front yard. "Having Lois here, it's helped so much, distracted me, Jason will keep me busy." He exhaled. "Tomorrow is the day I have to face things." Clark squeezed Edna's hand. "Ask me tomorrow."

Clark saw the flash of moisture in Edna's eyes as she pulled him into a tight embrace. They had a kinship, a lifetime of shared memories that bonded them in sorrow. Edna hiccupped back a sob and cleared her throat.

When she stepped away from him, there were shining tracks down her cheeks where her tears had traveled. Nevertheless she met his gaze from behind a fresh sheen of tears.

"We were blessed to have her for the time we did, weren't we?" She lowered her gaze and concentrated on straightening his flannel.

Clark nodded inhaling shakily.

"God didn't make a better person. She was and still is close to my heart. You are like a son to me Clark. If you need anything, please don't think you're burdening me by asking."

"I know." he gave her a small smile. "I'll call. I promise."

"Good." Edna smiled and covered her wrinkled face with her hands, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. "You won't need food anytime this century. The women at the church found out you were in town and have set themselves to cooking for as long as you need."

Clark opened his mouth to protest, but Edna waved him off. "Don't resist my dear, these women have been waiting to test out their recipes and Frank gets terrible heartburn every time Marge sends home her jalapeno jambalaya with me!"

Clark laughed and closed his mouth. He offered his arm to Edna and she took it. They walked slowly out to her car a station wagon that Clark suspected was old enough to vote. The door groaned in protest as he opened it for her.

"Thank you. For everything."

Edna cleared her throat roughly and offered him a watery smile.

Their eyes met and he smiled, his head lowered in a small nod of understanding.

With that, Edna tucked herself into the car and started the engine. She rolled down the window and Clark drew closer, bending to lean against the frame. 

"By the way," her voice lowered conspiratorially, "is Lois…_your_ Lois? From the way you look at each other, I can't imagine she is with Richard."

Clark gasped, his face manifested into a mask of mock offense. "Gossip! Don't you start Edna."

Edna chuckled quietly. "You never could keep a secret from me, Clark Kent. You'll buckle and tell me sooner or later."

Clark leaned further into the car and kissed Edna's wrinkled cheek. "Goodbye Edna."

Edna smiled smugly and put the car into gear. She winked at him and Clark watched as the vehicle disappeared behind the stalks of corn.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark stood looking after her, smiling and shaking his head slightly.

He turned as he heard Lois' footfalls behind him. She was carrying two ceramic mugs full of coffee, upon seeing Edna had already left, she presented one to him and kept the other for herself.

"You and Edna seem to be very close." she observed a teasing smile on her face. "Should I be worried?"

Clark sipped his coffee and smiled. "Definitely. But I'd never get past her husband."

Lois smiled. "Lucky for me then." she said, raising the mug to her lips.

"Richard went to the barn to rescue the chickens from Jason. Have you given any thought as to where everyone is to sleep?"

Clark chewed his lip thoughtfully. "We'll put Richard in the guest room. I'll sleep in my old room and you and Jason can sleep in the master bedroom…"

Lois looked at him in surprise. "Clark…Are you sure?"

Clark gave a determined nod. "That's how it would go if Ma was here. She'd sooner sleep on the roof than have you on the couch. And her bed is big. It'll fit both you and Jason."

Jason's musical laugh floated through the air towards them. He and Richard seemed to be in the midst of a humorous debate. Nestled in Jason's arms was a chicken looking nonplussed and covered in yellow paint.

"There is no way that's true." Richard said between giggles.

"Yeh huh!" Jason exclaimed. "I don't know how she got in there but she could have drowned!"

As they approached, Lois tried to ignore the yellow paint that was even now being spread all over her son's shirt.

"Ah I see you've met Lois." Clark said, grinning widely.

Lois head snapped in his direction. "What?"

Clark handed her his mug and walked over to Jason and knelt down, murmuring softly to the bird. He gestured in the frazzled poultry's direction. "Lois Lane, meet…Lois."

Lois' eyes widened and Richard who was barely hanging on to begin with collapsed into all out guffaws of laughter. "Death wish!" he croaked, holding his stomach.

Lois put her hand on her hip and regarded Clark. "Do mean to tell me…that chicken's name…"

"…is Lois. Yes." Clark rose to his feet, and looked around, a dusty rag lay limply over a nearby fencepost and Clark retrieved it, wrapping the soiled bird in the safety of the cloth. "No matter how many times I put her somewhere safe, she always manages to get herself into trouble." Clark looked down at the animal and it gazed back up at him with something Lois could almost identify as embarrassment."

Lois' mouth opened and closed a few times, her eyes narrowed into slits. The chicken wasn't the only one with ruffled feathers.

Clark took a step back and held up the chicken defensively. "Don't blame me! Ma named her!" He ran a soothing hand over top of the chicken's head which was the only spot on her not covered in paint. "But you have to admit it's a pretty appropriate name."

Lois jaw snapped shut.

Clark set about to wiping the worst of the mixture off the hen's feathers. "She's got nine lives, this one. Ma found her on the road in the middle of nowhere. She'd been clipped by a car or something. Ma brought her home and took care of her, and she's been getting into trouble ever since."

"Here Mommy!" Jason stepped forward and reached into his pocket, producing a handful of chicken feed. Lois silently lamented the challenge it was going to be to do Jason's laundry tonight. Jason took her hand and transferred the feed into her palm.

Lois tried to ignore Clark's mischievous grin and looked questioningly at her son. At his prompting she stepped forward and held her hand in front of the swaddled chicken.

Lois eyes her warily for a moment before pecking heartily at the feed in her hand and despite herself, Lois smiled.

Within minutes the feed had been consumed and the bulk of the paint had been cleaned from the bird's body. Clark set the bright yellow ball of feathers on the ground where Lois promptly set off after Shelby. The dog's tail wagged good naturedly as she managed to keep her distance as they skittered back towards the barn.

Clark wiped his hands off on a fresh rag and rose to his feet.

"Can I milk the cow?" Jason asked hopefully.

Clark grinned. "Not right now, buddy. I need to go and feed the horses. Would you go with your mother and unpack your luggage and the groceries? She'll show you where you guys are sleeping."

"Okay…" Jason was visibly disappointed at being given such a boring job. 

"Maybe later on you can ride Morning Star." Clark offered.

"Yeh!!" Jason's exclaimed.

"Morning Star?" Richard asked.

Clark nodded. "She's one of my mother's horses, very gentle. We've had her for years. I thought we could take a ride this afternoon." Clark raised an eyebrow in Lois direction.

Lois smiled. "You do realize the only horses I'm familiar with are the ones residing beneath the hood of my car right?" At Clark and Jason's pleading expressions she sighed. "But I'll give it a try."

Clark and Jason looked at each other and beamed.

"Come on honey. Let's go inside and get lunch started. Maybe we can find some ice cream to go with the apple pie."

Clark's eyes followed them as Lois and Jason made their way toward the house.

Richard shoved his hands into his pockets and regarded Clark. "You don't by any chance need help feeding the horses do you?

"Do you know your way around a pitchfork?" Clark asked.

Richard's mouth drew up in a half-smile. "I played the devil a few Halloweens ago."

Clark laughed and led Richard toward the stable. "Good enough."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Lois handed Jason a few Tupperware containers full of Lasagna, her mouth watered at the sight of it. She was nearly able to smell the meal through the plastic lid.

"So your Daddy's brought you here before?" Lois asked nonchalantly.

Jason nodded, concentrating on balancing the containers in his arms. He shuffled over to the open refrigerator and slid them into an empty shelf.

"So you've known a long time about Clark and Superman…"

Jason grinned and nodded again, taking a few loaves of bread from her hands. He turned toward the countertop, his eyebrows coming together in concentration.

"There's a bread box next to the fridge honey." Lois pointed, smoothing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

She watched her son for a moment. When he again stood before her, she knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. "And you know we can't tell anybody…"

Jason's grin widened and he sigh exasperatedly. "Yes, Mommy. I didn't tell anybody and I won't tell anybody, no matter what. I am good at keeping secrets."

He looked so much like a little man at that moment. Lois drew him into her arms, marveling at how much her son had grown up in such a short amount of time.

"Jason?" she asked, burying her face in the silk of his hair.

"Yes, Mommy?" he pulled away and look at her expectantly.

"How did you notice Clark was Superman?"

Jason giggled. "They're just glasses, Mommy. How didn't you?"


	18. Comfort

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Eighteen - Comfort

Clark stood looking out his window, standing like a sentinel watching over the landscape. The world outside was quiet and still, as it always was before a storm. The chickens had long since cowered into their coop and the other animals had followed suit, seeking shelter.

The sky above was a wall over ever-thickening clouds. In the distance, the low hanging body of a thunderhead flickered with barely restrained fingers of lightning. Every few moments its low powerful growl vibrated off the countryside. A few errant drops of rain found their way to the window, slamming themselves against the glass in ever-greater measure, creating reflected streaks over the planes of his face.

Clark raised his eyes to the sky, his gaze tracing over the dark of the clouds. It seemed impossible that the sun would rise today.

_"You know, Clark. The sun still shines above the clouds, even when you can't see it."_

His mother's voice echoed in the corridor of his mind, her voice soft and encouraging as he always remembered it. A flash of approaching lightning glistened off the moisture in his eyes and fell with it onto his cheek.

His hand balled into a fist around the charcoal tie in his hand. Clark exhaled and wearily sank onto the wooden chair beside the window. He had loved to sit here as a boy and stare at the sky. The old wood creaked under his weight now as he leaned forward to read his forehead against the coolness of the glass.

This day had been like an approaching storm, and despite his best efforts, he found himself totally unprepared for its fury. He closed his eyes and the reflection of the now-steady falling rain mingled with the tears on his cheeks.

Behind him quiet footsteps approached, pausing only a moment until they were joined by the groaning squeak of unused wheels as Jason rolled the desk chair into place beside him. Clark turned to see as his son, still in his pajamas, climb onto the chair and scoot closer until he leaned against him.

Jason's hand was hardly big enough to span half the width of Clark's but the boy took his father's hand in his just the same and held it with both of his.

Clark looked at Jason in bewilderment and their eyes met. Jason smiled gently up at him and squeezed his hand, then turned his attention to the arriving storm beyond the window.

Clark sat in silence for a moment before following Jason's gaze, his tears falling in earnest. There they sat father and son, hands clasped, braving the storm together. 

Lois reached out and wiped away the fog that had collected on the bathroom mirror. The moisture collected beneath her fingers and ran in fat droplets down the smooth surface of the glass. She stood there momentarily staring at her reflection, offering a small determined smile to herself.

Outside the thunder had stopped and Lois could no longer hear the rain thrumming against the shutters. The storm appeared to be over, leaving only the randomized dripping from the roof as the rising sun did it's best to poke its way through the clouds and dry the soaked landscape.

Lois' mind wandered as she towel-dried her hair, her thoughts floating back to the previous evening...

Last night had gone much smoother than expected. She and Jason had made dinner, and Richard and Clark had been off doing something farm-ish. When the men returned, Lois had noticed a slightly odd timbre to Clark's voice. Richard had brushed past her into the kitchen and she had looked at Clark questioningly. He had opened his mouth for a moment and then closed it suddenly. He had kissed her forehead and whispered that they would talk about it later. Short of a few strained looks between Clark and Richard, dinner had gone off without a hitch.

As the night wore on, the occasion to talk hadn't arose and Lois was still wondering what had happened.

Lois gathered her nightclothes from the floor and snapped off the light. The steam from her shower followed her into the hall and with her slammed right into Richard.

"Oof!" He exclaimed.

"Shh!" Lois cast a glance down the hall.

"Oof." Richard whispered, smiling apologetically, the bluish light of the evening glinting off his teeth. His eyes squinted, taking in her wet hair in surprise. "Lois Lane up before the sun? I think you might be a ghost!"

Lois scoffed quietly. "I wanted to be up early and get the coffee going and everything so Clark wouldn't have to worry about it." She ordinarily didn't like to be the first one up in the morning, but she wanted to help everything to go as well as possible today.

Richard's face grew sober as he nodded. "I see." An emotion flickered in and out of Richard's eyes before Lois could identify it.

Lois stepped to the side to allow Richard entry to the bathroom. "Did you and Clark have fun being farmers?" She asked, leaving her tone intentionally casual.

Richard knew her better than that and smiled wryly, playing the game. "We did. Shoveled some hay and fed the horses, showed me I need to dust off my gym membership. I'm definitely feeling it today."

Lois smiled politely, waiting for him to divulge more.

Richard stepped past her and flipped the switch on the wall. The light from the bathroom illuminated one half of his face. His eyes twinkled knowingly as she eyed him in barely restrained expectation.

Richard grinned. "He's a great man, Lois. He's lucky to have…a friend like you."

With that he had closed the door between them, leaving her in the dark both literally and figuratively. And if there was one thing Lois Lane hated, it was being in the dark.

Her eyes narrowed as heard the water from the shower turn on and Richard's low humming. Lois fleeting wished she hadn't been so sparing with the hot water. She turned on her heel and made her way down the hall, tiptoeing past the room she and Jason had been sharing, toward Clark's bedroom.

She pressed her ear against the wood of door, listening for signs Clark was still asleep. Lois raised her hand to knock softly, when the door opened. Lois' eyes rose to meet Clark's, but found only the empty darkness of the room. Confused, she lowered her gaze and found the same eyes in smaller body.

Jason stepped out of the room into the hallway and Lois let the door close behind him.

"Honey what are you doing up?" she whispered gently.

Jason's eyes traveled over to Clark's door. "I was helping him cry." He said quietly.

Lois crouched down to his level and brushed the hair from his face, planting a kiss on his cheek. She pulled him into a hug, brushing away a tear of her own.

She rested her chin on top of his head and squeezed him gently. "Have I told you how much I love you?" His head bobbed against her. Lois smiled and pulled away to look into his face. "Well I'll tell you again, to the…"

"..the moon and back." Jason looked up at her and smiled. He returned her squeeze and then padded sleepily back down the hall toward the master bedroom.

Lois rose to her feet and turned once again toward Clark's room.

"Come in." She heard his muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Lois opened the door to find Clark standing next to the window. He stood tall, dressed in a suit minus the tie which dangled from his fingers. The sun was still only a rumor on the horizon, but its feeble light somehow found its way onto Clark's face as he turned to look at her.

He looked tired. His eyes were bloodshot, betraying a long and probably sleepless night. His expression however, was calm, even relaxed thanks in large part she guessed to his young visitor.

Lois crossed the room in a handful of steps and wrapped her arms around Clark's midsection. His arms rested over her shoulders and they stood that way for a moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of Clark's ancient 'Lone Ranger' alarm clock and their slow even breaths.

"I love you." Lois whispered, squeezing him gently.

"Thank you." Clark said quietly. He looked down at her, his expression a mixture of so many emotions, but the one currently prevailing in abundance was love. "Thank you for loving me, Lois. Thank you for giving me our beautiful son." His fingers combed through her hair as he drew her face toward his. "I'll never be able to tell you how much loving you means to me…"

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers in the gentlest of kisses. Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and his arms supported her and lifted her off her feet. It occurred to her that it had been nearly one full day since he had kissed her.

She offered him every bit of comfort she could muster in her kiss. She ran her hand to and fro across the expanse of his back and nuzzled his cheek with her own. He sighed softly and she felt his cheek expand in a small smile.

"I heard you interrogating Richard in the hallway." He said softly, into her hair, his voice chiding.

Lois smiled against his neck, happy to amuse him on today of all days. "I wasn't interrogating him…much." Lois tilted her head up to look at him and he loosened his grip setting her back on her feet.

Clark smiled down at her. "Lois, the only thing you were missing was a heat lamp and a one-way mirror."

Lois grinned at him and took the tie from his hand, tucking it under the fold of his collar. She set to tying the hanging fabric and she felt his sigh beneath her fingers. Her eyes met his and she saw him try to hide the sorrow that had crept into his face.

"It's ok, Clark." She straightened the knot and patted it gently. "This is the day to feel like this." Lois brushed the back of her fingers across his cheek. Clark closed his eyes and held her hand against his lips.

"Thank you." He whispered his voice tight.

Lois smiled sadly. "I'm going to go downstairs and make some coffee." She stood on her tiptoes and laid a lingering kiss on his cheek. "I may even try to make some eggs."

Clark nodded running hand over his suit to smooth it. "I'll be down in a little bit." 

Clark smiled softly as he watched her leave. How had he ever lived without her? It was her love for him that kept him afloat. This new love made him feel like he could survive anything. And today he needed that love so desperately.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, letting his cheeks billow. He would make it. He was surrounded by such a wonderful family. His smile widened as his thoughts turned to his son. Clark walked over to his desk and picked up the small paper Jason had left there.

A riot of colorful lines covered the page. On the left side, the sun shone brightly in yellow and orange scribbles that faded into a light blue sky. The blue darkened in the middle of the paper into a twinkling star-filled heaven where the full moon glowed majestically in a swirl of whites and grays.

In the midst of it all, just at the change of the sky, floated two figures, hand in hand. One was tall and wore a blue suit, an 'S' emblazoned on his chest. The other was a smaller version, complete with a blue t-shirt with a red "J" on it.

In black crayon the margin heralded the words; "I love you, to the moon and back… Love, Jason."


	19. Family

Clark exhaled the breath he had been holding._ Ready or not. It's time._ He closed the door to his room and straightened his suit jacket. He could already smell the eggs Lois was cooking downstairs beginning to burn. Clark shook his head slightly and made his way down the hall.

"Good morning, Clark." Richard's voice floated out from the open guestroom door. He pulled his tie snugly up to his throat and offered Clark a small smile.

"Good morning, Richard." Clark's lips wobbled upward in response.

The two men stood for a moment in awkward silence.

"I didn't have that chance yet to say how sorry I am about your mother." Richard's eyes were sincere as he held Clark's gaze.

Clark nodded. "Thank you."

"I wish I had known her better. The few times I saw her at the Planet, she seemed like a really nice woman."

"She was. One of the best. I couldn't have asked for a better mom."

Lois lowered the second plate of burnt, rubbery eggs into the trash. _It's a good thing we are on a farm. I have all the eggs I can ruin at my fingertips. _ She scraped the remnants into the waiting receptacle and paused when she heard voices in the hallway upstairs.

Frying pan in one hand, spatula in the other, she crept into the living room. She tiptoed her way over to the wooden railing that lead to the second floor, her body bent at an odd angle, straining to hear the baritone murmurings above…

The silence stretched between the two men and Richard buttoned his suit coat, his fingers fiddling with the last button.

"Listen, Richard, thank you for coming, for bringing Jason... It means a lot." Clark said softly. "And thank you for yesterday-"

"You're welcome." Richard interjected. He cleared his throat and studied the floor. He took a small breath before continuing. "I wanted to be here for you anyway and I know Lois was missing Jason." Clark saw the wistfulness on longing flash through Richard's eyes before he could hide them.

Clark chewed the inside of his lip, and nodded. He understood that feeling all too well.

"Thank you." he said again, his eyes filled with meaning.

Richard nodded once before his eyes flitted toward the stairs. "Let's go see what Lois is making for breakfast. If history holds true, we may be in for coffee and Pop tarts."

Clark's face relaxed into a smile.

At their descending footfalls, Lois turned on her heel and ran back into the kitchen. The two men entered the room just as she reached the stove and slammed the skillet back onto the burner.

It was at the moment the toast that had been burning vaulted out of the toaster and skittered onto the floor, leaving crumbs of charcoal in their wake.

Lois spun around in surprise, her eyes flying first to the floor then up to Clark's. She saw his nostrils flare as he bit back a laugh. He calmly crossed the kitchen, picked up the toast slices and tosses them on top of the dispatched eggs in the trash.

He brushed his hands together, letting the crumbs follow their brethren into the receptacle, "So who likes Pop tarts?"

Lois narrowed her eyes and blew her errant bangs out of her eyes. Clark smiled repentantly and leaned toward her. Lois' head turned instinctively toward his before she remembered their company and snapped it back down. Clark's hand settled on her shoulder, squeezing it gently as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you for trying." He said softly.

Lois smiled and poked her head out of the kitchen. "Jason! Time for breakfast!"

"What are we having?" a muffled voice came from the direction of the direction of the living room.

"Poptarts!"

A pause.

"Did you make them?"

"Jason Aaron…" Lois' hands flew to her hips.

"I'm coming I'm coming!" Jason's voice grew clearer as he scampered into the kitchen and took a seat next to Clark.

The foursome sat around the table, the sounds of cellophane being torn open and beverages being poured became the dominating sounds of the room as the chatter ebbed and the events of the day compelled them all to quiet.

Lois' eyes fluttered over to Clark on a number of occasions and each time she found his gaze fixed on the empty chair at the head of the table. She longed to put her arms around him and hold him as tight as she could, anything to battle away the sorrow that kept finding its way into his eyes.

But her eyes would then invariably sneak over to Richard and find him looking at her in a way she could not decode. Her ever-curious nature pounced and she once again wondered what had transpired the previous evening in the barn.

But now certainly wasn't the time to ask. Lois returned her attention to Clark. His eyes lifted toward hers and his lips turned up in a small smile.

"Ben should be here soon." She said quietly, trying to fill the awkward silence that grew more overwhelming by the moment.

"Yeh…" Clark took a sip of milk.

Lois reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

Richard leaned back in his chair and reached his arms up to the ceiling in a stretch.

"That is the last time I shovel hay." Richard said.

Clark smiled. "You just need practice."

Richard groaned and held one arm across his chest, pressing against it until his shoulder gave an audible 'pop.' "Not a whole lot of hay bales in Metropolis fortunately."

"Well you have an open invitation to visit anytime the rural mood strikes you."

"Thanks, Clark…" Richard earnestly.

Clark nodded and returned to his breakfast.

"_I must not be in as good of shape as I thought I was!" Richard plunged the pitchfork into the hay and used the inside of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow. "We've been at this for forty five minutes, I'm dying and you're not even breaking a sweat!"_

_Clark smiled up into the hayloft. "Well I've been doing this for years. You're a rookie." Clark tossed another mountainous load of hay into the nearby wagon. He grunted softly as he dug into the loose hay again, trying to make it look harder on him than it actually was._

_Richard smiled back and picked up the pitchfork again and resumed his task. "Do you miss living on a farm after spending so much time in the big city?" He stabbed at the pile again when the hay he'd collected toppled off the end of the pitchfork tip over the hayloft flooring and nearly onto Clark's head._

"_I can't imagine growing up any other way. Life is simpler out here, slower. The rhythm isn't as frantic as it is in a city. The air carries this amazing scent that combines all the different crops growing on all the farms. I miss that smell when I'm away. I love that at night you can see the whole sky. If you had a mind to, you could almost count the stars." Clark's gaze floated toward the skyline, his expression faraway._

"_You make it sound like a Longfellow poem." Richard smiled and tossed another forkful of hay over the side. "Do you think you'd ever move back?" _

"_I don't know, I'm not sure there is anything for me here now… I've thought about it, staying here on the farm. My parents have had it in their family for generations and have worked so hard on it…but I could never leave Metropolis." _

_Richard leaned against the handle of his fork and looked intently at Clark. "You must really love… working at The Planet."_

_Clark shifted under his gaze. "I do." he replied, a little nervously._

_Richard looked at him for another long moment before returning his attention to the hay._

_They worked in silence for a few moments before Richard spoke again._

"_I see how you look at Lois." he said matter-of-factly. He spoke plainly, with no malice in his voice._

_Clark opened his mouth to speak and Richard held up his hand. _

"_Even without meeting you, I knew you had feelings for her. The way people talked about you two. It was always 'Lane and Kent', 'Kent and Lane'…" Richard chuckled softly. "Your partnership was the stuff of legend at the Planet." Richard examined the post near him, picking off a loose piece of hay that had attached itself to the worn plank of wood. "And when you came back, it didn't take long for me to see why."_

_Clark squirmed, fidgeting with the wooden handle of his pitchfork._

"_I'm not saying this to make you uncomfortable, Clark. But you do love her… don't you?" Richard looked at him expectantly, the question already answered in his mind._

_Clark raised his head and looked Richard square in the eyes. "Yes, I do." he said softly._

_Richard nodded once, following Clark as he laid his pitchfork against the wall of the barn and descended the wooden ladder onto the first floor of the barn._

"_Because today, in the truck, I saw you, with that same look, but this time she was looking back. And it was in a way I could only wish she'd looked at me when she and I were together."_

_Clark stood staring at Richard in silence, not having the faintest clue of what to say._

"_Clark, you're a good man. And if she loves you the way I think she does, hold onto her and don't let go. Because you'll always regret it if you do..." _

The squeak of the front door as it opened snapped Clark out of his reverie.

Soon after, the front door closed quietly and four heads turned to see Ben Hubbard fill the kitchen entrance. He wore a brown suit with patches on the elbows. He hair was combed perfectly into place and he wore his good glasses that did little to hide the redness recent tears had added to his eyes.

"Uncle Ben!!" Jason squealed as he pushed out his chair and ran around the table, throwing his arms around the Ben's midsection.

Ben held out his arms. "Oh my boy it has been so long! You've gotten so big!" Ben groaned as he lifted the boy into his embrace. "My lands! You're nearly too big to lift!" He held Jason close a smile spreading across his face.

"I'm visiting for a while!" Jason exclaimed excitedly as he slid back to the floor. "Maybe even the whole summer!"

Lois rose to her feet and crossed the room. "We'll see." She reached down to straighten Jason's hair before putting her arms around the older man's shoulders.

"Hello, Lois." Ben said softly.

Lois held him tightly before pulling back and looking in his face. "You could have come over, Ben." She gestured toward the fridge. "We have more than enough food to feed an army."

Ben smiled. "The ladies from the church got you too, eh?" He patted her hand. "Thank you. We may have to have a pot luck dinner one of these nights. I don't know where they think an old man like me needs so many meals a day!"

Lois squeezed his arm affectionately and returned to the table. "Speaking of meals, have you eaten? We have…"

"Poptarts!" Jason held up a half-eaten square for Ben to see.

"Thank you, no. I'm not terribly hungry this morning." He reached down and tapped his finger gently on the tip of the boy's nose.

Clark watched the entire exchange, a touched smile spread across his face at the way Lois and Jason embraced Ben. His family.

Ben's eyes lifted and his gaze met Clark's. "Hello, son."

Clark pushed back his chair and crossed the room in one stride. He pulled Ben into an embrace. They stood there a moment, fused together in sorrow, Ben's face buried in the crook of Clark's shoulder.

Ben turned his head as he pulled away, brushing a tear impatiently off his cheek. "We will need to get going soon." He whispered, his voice strained.

Clark nodded.

Ben cleared his throat and turned his attention back into the kitchen. "And who is this?" He extended his hand. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

Richard stood and shook his hand warmly. "Richard White. I…work with Lois and Clark. Jason and I flew in just yesterday."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Richard. And thank you for bringing young Jason. He is a wonderful sight for these sore old eyes."

"You're welcome sir. It's wonderful to meet you too. I've heard so much. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Ben paused a moment and swallowed the knot in his throat. "Thank you." He managed.

The clock in the living room chimed the hour of nine.

It was time.


	20. Goodbye

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty - Goodbye

The small group sat quietly inside the limousine sent by the funeral home. The lavish transportation was an odd tradition, perhaps designed to take one's mind off the event at hand, even if just for a moment.

In such a small town, one rarely saw such a vehicle, and it was understood when the shiny black car came down the street, that a funeral was in process.

Clark watched through the tinted window as they coasted down Main Street toward the church. He noticed as they approached that a few people on the sidewalks slightly bowed their heads in respect, or made subtle signs of the cross over their chests.

He closed his eyes a moment and turned his head, returning his attention to the passengers inside the car. Ben seemed ill at ease and out of place in the opulent surroundings as he nervously fingered the fraying stitches on the patch at his elbow.

_"Ben! Stop pulling at that thread! People are going to think you've never worn a suit before!" _

He smiled wanly at the memory of his mother's scolding tone one Sunday on the way to church. She had turned to him, her eyes sparkling, a wide smile on her face…

_"Honestly, Clark I can't take him anywhere."_

His vision focused as he emerged from his cocoon of memories to find Ben looking at him. He smiled gently. Both gazes traveled to Ben's fingers, even now pulling a hole in the left elbow of his blazer; and when their eyes met a second time, they grinned together at the shared memory.

Jason got up from his perch beside his mother and climbed onto the cushion beside Ben.

He crawled into his lap, wrapping his tiny arms around the grieving man's neck in a hug. Ben's hand shook slightly as he braced the child's back and accepted the embrace.

Beside him, Clark felt Lois' fingers intertwine with his own and squeeze gently. He turned to meet eyes that asked if he was alright, and he quietly nodded, returning the affectionate pressure.

He noticed Richard's eyes flicker to their joined hands for a moment before returning to his own fingers where he sought distraction in pulling grit from the previous day from beneath his nails.

The church came into view from its hiding place behind the large pine trees that guarded it. His eyes scanned the landscape, finding the hedges that lined the front of the building. A small group of children buzzed with laughter as they chased each other to and fro amongst the foliage.

He recalled a day when his own laughter had joined the chorus, where he and his friends had played hide & seek, or spun around on the front lawn until they grew dizzy and fell breathless into the softness of the perfectly cut grass.

The limousine came to an easy stop at the front entrance of the church, where an appropriately sober-looking man in a crisp suit reached for the door handle.

Ben lifted Jason off his lap and unfolded himself from the car anxious to be out in the fresh air once again. He turned and offered the boy his hand, and Jason took it without hesitation. Richard watched this, and followed.

Lois noticed Clark's hesitation as she scooted to the edge of the vinyl seating. She leaned forward awkwardly in her heels and pressed a kiss against his lips.

"I love you," she said, her eyes shining with a veil of unshed tears. "so much."

Her eyes met his and broadcast her love so completely that Clark felt near physical warmth. He reached out and touched her face, holding her chin between his thumb and forefinger for a moment before letting his hand fall back into his lap.

"I love you," he whispered, taking her hand as he exited the limousine.

A symphony of floral fragrances serenaded him, reminding him of lazy summer afternoons spent at vacation bible study. The lilac bush near the entrance bloomed joyously, its purple and pink blossoms filling the air with perfume as if offering him their comfort.

A small group had gathered on the steps leading to the front entrance. No one seemed to be going inside, be it out of respect or perhaps to delay the solemn event for a moment. The sky was still gray and overcast but the rain was only a fading threat as the clouds rolled lazily above the church. Clark's eyes followed them in their travels, part of him longed to take to the sky and flee from this day entirely.

Lois's soft call and the touch of her hand on his arm coaxed him from his reverie. His attention focused. He reached out to shake the hand of the funeral director who was standing before him to offer his condolences; his eyes offering a sympathetic gaze from behind a thick pair of glasses. Ned had been a town fixture as long as Clark could remember. The gentle man had been kind to him after his father passed, offering an understanding ear to both him and his mother. He'd made the entire process so much easier on both of them. Clark certainly appreciated his repeated support and friendship.

"I'm so sorry, Clark," Ned murmured, his voice colored by the tears in his throat.

Clark nodded and offered a sad smile. "Thank you, Ned."

Someone opened the front door and he heard the gentle strains of piano. The tune was comforting; and though he could not remember the name, it struck a chord that resonated in the hallways of his memory reminding him of times spent in that building with his parents…

_"And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,  
Bear you on the breath of dawn,  
Make you to shine like the sun,  
And hold you in the palm of His Hand."_

They had been his favorite moments. His hearing had been getting ever so much more sensitive, but he'd found that place to be the most peaceful of all. For the gentle tinkling of the piano or the reverent tones of the organ accompanied by a roomful of people with all of their hearts turned in one direction, it was there that Clark had felt he heard best.

Their voices had been untrained and sometimes the tune had been elusive, but when his parents sang together they had always seemed to be in perfect harmony.

He'd often looked up at them from his vantage point on the smooth, wooden pew, seeing the back of his father's head bent forward as he'd read the words from the hymnal. His mother had typically been visible only in profile, her eyes closed, her face upturned toward heaven, and a content smile enriching her face as she sang with all her heart.

"Come here, son," his father would whisper.

And he would stand so that Jonathan could lift him into the air and perch him on his hip; lowering the hymnal so that he could read the words and sing along with his parents. 

The memory faded and his attention returned to the present. Even now, he was still able to feel the rumbling of his father's chest as he sang in his low baritone.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. His head nodded slowly as each person shook his hand and paid their respects. His legs moved like he was underwater as they made their way to the front of the church.

Jason stood beside him in a suit, trying to behave and not tug at the tie that made his skin so itchy. Lois stood next to him, her hand warm and strong inside of his. Whenever he felt the wave of sorrow begin to overwhelm him, it was her eyes that he turned to. Behind her tears, they were full of strength and love. She rubbed his forearm with her free hand and offered another comforting squeeze.

His eyes traveled in every direction, taking in every sight of the room.

Save one.

The casket was white and pristine. It shone with polish and reflected the high vaulted lights of the church; its lid lined in a soft, pale pink material that was designed to be comforting to the touch. It was nestled amid an explosion of flowers. They were every color and shape; and tucked into them were notes and cards from various loved ones and acquaintances.

When his gaze finally rested upon the familiar features of his mother, the breath he'd been holding escaped at once. He inhaled just as quickly a sudden sound born of pure anguish. Jason's small hand slipped into his and Lois held his other hand all the more tightly, holding his arm against her body.

The aisle split into an open area at the front of the church and they arrived at the seating reserved for them. He slipped his hands from Lois and Jason and took a step toward the casket.

His mother lay peacefully in an ocean of pale pink and ivory; her expression loose and relaxed as if she were only asleep. He stared for a long moment, waiting for movement, a rising of the chest, a flutter of an eye lash. For all his power, he stood by helplessly wishing to hear a heartbeat from the beloved woman in front of him.

He noticed her hands folded over her midsection; his mind suddenly filling with a thousand memories of those hands. Being rung when she worried, flying to her hips when she was angry, gentle and sure when they comforted.

His hands trembled as he covered his mother's fingers with his own…

_"Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?"_

Her small hand barely registered on the expanse of his, save for the warming love it brought. Her eyes twinkled with pride as it danced with joyful tears.

"It's not just because of all the marvelous things you do every day. Though I do admit I enjoy every time a breaking news report comes on and I can watch you saving lives from some exotic location I've never seen. I've been caught a time or two by Ben, cheering you on like a quarterback on a football team."

She leaned her silver head against his shoulder as they swayed back and forth on the porch swing, watching the sun dip below the horizon.

"I never thought I'd know the joy of having a child; and having you as a son has been the great miracle of my life. I'll never know why God saw fit to place you in my care, but I want you to know, you've made me prouder than any mother has a right to be, and it's not because you can lift the tractor above your head. You save my life every time I see the man you have grown into from the little boy who stole my heart all those years ago, just standing in the middle of a crater."

She reached up and brushed the tear that had fallen onto his cheek. And he wrapped his arms around her, dwarfing her with his size as she overcame him with the strength of her love.

"I love you, Ma." he whispered, his fingers sliding reluctantly away from hers for the last time. 

--

Lois rose to her feet at Clark's whisper and came to stand by his side. He trembled as he leaned against her, his arm lay heavily on her shoulder. She weaved her arm around his waist and held on tightly.

They stood silently together. To stay and to stand was a crushing burden, but to turn and walk away felt unthinkable. Every moment clamored with finality, every second fell like a precious diamond from between their fingers.

Finally Lois felt him exhale. He was ready.

"Goodbye, Martha." Lois whispered and together they turned toward their seats.

Lois' eyes traveled around the assembly. Judging by the number of people crammed into the small church, it wasn't only her family's life that Martha had impacted. The pews were filled with people dressed in their Sunday finest, many clutching wrinkled tissues, talking quietly to one another. Every so often a quiet chuckle or fleeting giggle from stories being shared would rise above the low buzz of conversation in the room.

Making their way toward them down the main aisle was Edna, her hand clasped around the arm of a man of similar age. Edna's characteristic spunk was diminished, for the moment sorrow was etched into her features. As they drew nearer she separated from the man Lois assumed was her husband Frank and reached out for Clark.

"Oh Clark..." She choked, hugging him tightly.

Clark's hand stroked her curly white hair comfortingly, neither said a word. After a moment Edna pulled away, patting Clark on the arm.

"Lois this is my husband, Frank." She said wiping a stray tear from her eye.

Lois turned and smiled warmly at the older man. "It's nice to meet you Frank, I've heard so much about you."

Frank returned her smile and shook her hand. "Knowing Edna, I'm sure I should be blushing at what she told you of me." His voice was low and velvety as he chuckled softly. "It's a pleasure, Lois."

Frank had just offered Clark his hand when a kindly man in a simple suit approached.

"Hello, Pastor." Clark said, smiling wearily. He gestured to Lois. "This is Lois Lane. Lois, this is Pastor Stephen."

Pastor Stephen was a tall man, yet not imposing. His face was covered in a salt and pepper beard, giving him a distinguished air, but his easy smile and kind eyes prevented intimidation.

"It's so lovely to meet you, Lois. I've been a fan of yours for years." He shook her hand and turned to Clark. "We can begin whenever you are ready, Clark." He said gently.

Clark nodded and Lois followed him as they found their seats. The wood of the pew creaked softly as she and Clark sat down. His hand found hers immediately and she wrapped her fingers around his as if you offer her own strength in this moment. Beside them, Ben had returned from the casket to sit beside Richard and Jason who sat quiet, their eyes following the pastor to the front of the church.

Pastor Stephen took his place behind the pulpit and smiled the special smile God gives to pastors that both comforts and encourages, yet commands respect and attention.

"Good morning. For those of you who may not know me, I am Pastor Stephen Nemeth, I've known Martha for as long as I can remember. We grew up in this town together, went to school together and together we watched our families grow first in marriage then through our children. When I came to Pastor this church many years ago, she was already here, serving God the only way she knew how; completely.

It says in the Word that you shall know a Christian by their love and by the fruit they bear. As I look around this church I see the fruitful harvest of a life well lived. I see children who have grown into fine men and women under Martha's watchful eye in this church. I see bellies that have expanded due to her amazing cooking." He patted his own stomach.

The church vibrated as the multitude chuckled as one.

"I also see many tears. I think today we don't weep for Martha. We know she has received the reward of her faith and her deeds, we know she feels no pain, no sorrow and we are glad for her. I think today friends, we weep for ourselves. For all the wonderful years we had with her, we all wish we had just a little more time.

The wonderful thing is that Martha lives on in the stories we tell, in the things we remember. We follow her as she followed Christ and live by the example she gave. She taught us how to serve, how to be kind and patient, and how to love.

Whenever I found myself in a moment where I might need to be reminded of these things, I would find Martha just over my shoulder. She lived by the 'Love Chapter' we all know so well;

'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.'

When I repeat those life-enriching words, I can't help but think that Martha Kent embodied those traits, Amen?"

A chorus of agreeing 'amens' lifted from the congregation and beside her Lois saw a smile of pride on Clark's face as he heard the affirmation the values that he had spent a lifetime drawing from. Lois' own lips turned up as an air of affection filled the sanctuary.

"Martha has left us a love letter through the life of her son, Clark. We can all agree that Clark has changed a lot over the years, from flannels and jeans to a suit and tie. I remember being able to carry him on my shoulders at the church picnic and somehow I think perhaps I'd be better off on his these days."

Clark's laugh beside her was a balm to Lois' soul.

"But one thing that hasn't changed about Clark is the strength and integrity that he was raised under. And I think who better than him to speak about Martha." Pastor Stephen looked over from the pulpit and motioned for Clark to step forward.

He squeezed Lois' hand once before rising and stepping forward, taking the pulpit after a kindly pat on the back from the pastor, whom he towered over by nearly a foot.

Lois had seen him give speeches before heads of state and congress, kings and presidents, but today she knew would be his most difficult of all.

The church was silent and attentive as Clark adjusted the microphone. He pursed his lips a moment and took a small breath, then lifted his eyes to the faces before him, and began to speak…

"Many of you know that my parents adopted me when I was very young. However, that is something that rarely came into play as I never felt adopted. As I grew up I felt awkward, different. And still my father and my mother loved me as if they were my parents by blood.

I could never have asked for a more wonderful family to be a part of. When I thought I was invincible, my mother was there to pull me back to the ground and remind me of faith, wisdom and what was important. And on the days I wondered if I could ever go out and face the world again, it was the words of my mother that gave me strength to endure.

My mother has been with me through every important decision, every event of my life. She always seemed to know the right thing to do, even when the circumstance seemed impossible."

He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat, his eyes lowering to look at the pulpit surface.

"I look to the future and I wonder how I'll be able to face it without her. I wonder how I'll know what to do when the moment comes… Then I hear her voice again, and she lives in my memory and in my heart. My mother's influence and touch on my life extends so far beyond her time here on earth.

Her voice and her wisdom, her compassion and her love will guide me for the rest of my life. She will speak to my children through me and I will present to them all of the lessons she brought into my life."

Lois heard a sniffle beside her and she wrapped her arm around Jason, kissing his hair and wiping the tear from his cheek.

"And I agree with Pastor Stephen. I look around this room and I see a sea of memories. Every face reminds me of my mother. We can all say there were moments in our lives when Martha Kent came to our rescue. It could have been with a word, a hug, or one of her world famous apple pies. She touched us all and left an enduring legacy.

Clark head turned toward the casket, his hair falling for a moment in front of his eyes reminiscent of the little boy he had once been. His breath caught in his throat and when he turned again his eyes glittered with tears.

"I love you, Ma. And I miss you so much I can hardly find words to express it. But you carved out a place for me in this world, when I thought there never would be one. I can go forward, knowing this world is just a little better because it had you in it. And my children after me will hear the stories of their grandmother and together we'll go out into this world and do our best to make you proud.

In my life, I get to meet a lot of people, touch a lot of lives. And I pray that one day I'll be able to look back and say that I made half the impact on this world that my mother did. They say what makes a person a hero is to be able to inspire people long past the time they are in this world.

If what they say is true, my mother may be the greatest hero of all."


	21. Hope

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty One - Hope

_-squeak-  
-click-_

The granite was smooth and shiny, giving an appearance of polish, of control. For all its fluid etchings and inscriptions, the surface was cold, unyielding and final. 

_**Martha Kent **__  
Treasured Wife. Beloved Mother. Faithful Servant of Christ  
1933-2008_

_  
_

The stone had been carved years ago when his parents had drawn up their wills and made their mutual arrangements. Beside his mother's name, etched into the finely polished stone was that of Jonathan Kent. The gravestone had remained untouched for all of these years, until today when a date had been added to the hyphen that represented his mother's time on earth. The font was the same in depth and size but its newness tore at Clark's heart reminding him of the last time he'd beheld this stone.

_-squeak-  
-click-_

_His mother's hand had slipped into his, the pressure of her grip having little effect on his invulnerable flesh, yet somehow still managing to crush him. She had stood by so proudly and with such grace, bearing all things, as her heart was lowered into the ground._

Then with a few whispered prayers, his father's funeral had ended. Friends and loved ones had given their last hugs and offered what words of encouragement they could and then they too faded with the light of the setting sun. The wind had picked up and despite the summer season, he saw his mother shiver slightly and wrap her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. Clark had pulled her to him, turning to bear the wind at his back, wishing somehow the action would shield her from this moment. His mother's tears had soaked silk of his tie, as she had turned her face into his chest and released a violent series of sobs, her frail shoulders shuddering with their force.

He had held her as tightly as he dared, waiting out the storm, completely helpless. He couldn't blow these clouds away. This storm would have to be weathered. And then as soon as it they had come, the sobs quieted and his mother had straightened herself to every inch of her petite stature and looked at the gravestone of her husband and smiled.

"I'll see you soon, my love." She had whispered.

"Are you alright?" he murmured, his voice nearly inaudible.

Martha unceremoniously wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I will be."

With that she had dropped a single red rose into the earth and nodded to the cemetery employees to begin their duties. 

Clark raised his head, his eyes scanning the cemetery and finally coming to rest on two men in slate grave uniforms who stood off at a respectful distance.

_-squeak-  
-click-_

The casket rested on shiny aluminum bars, connected to a pulley system. In a dichotomy of life and death, flowers had been strewn about its closed lid in a riot of colorful blossoms, casting a joyous façade on the symbol of loss.

Building tears fled from where they had gathered down onto Clark's cheeks as he closed his eyes.

_-squeak-  
-click-_

The remainder of the funeral service had passed in a blur, every sight and sound molding together into the gray void of his sorrow. Save one. The sound of the casket closing was burned into his ears, destined to replay over and over again. He had heard the soft squeaking of the gears as the lid closed and the light faded from his mother's face. He had been unable to resist the temptation to expand his vision in an attempt to catch one last look. The material of the casket had held up under his piercing gaze. Lead lining. For a moment a wry smile flitted across his face at his mother's choice even now to always make him look to the future rather than back into the past.

_Click_

Clark's shoulder had jolted so much at the sound, that Lois had reached out to steady him, her small hands braced against the tense muscle of his arm. Her fingers had slid down his arm, clasping his hand in both of hers. Even now as they stood in the emptying cemetery, her hands had not released him from her charge.

To his right Clark vaguely noticed Ben drop his flower onto the casket. With a whispered declaration of love, he began a slow shuffling walk toward the waiting limousine. The events of the past week seemed to have aged him twenty years as he gratefully allowed Richard to help him into the car.

On either side of him stood the ones that were now his family, Lois on his right, holding him up with so much more than her hands and Jason on his left, his head bowed in stoic silence that stretched beyond his young years.

Jason reached into the small pocket of his little suit coat and produced a folded piece of yellow construction paper. He carefully unfolded it, smoothing out the creases as best he could. Lois and Clark leaned forward as one.

The contents of the paper held a youthful expression of life on a farm. The house was simple and welcoming, including a yellow scribble Clark supposed to be Shelby. In front of the farmhouse stood three happy stick figures standing hand in hand, two were tall and in the middle the smallest figure wore the largest smile. Its large eyes gazed heavenward where a cloud hovered just above. A tight patch of white scribbles gathered to form a cloud at the feet of Martha Kent who gazed lovingly down at them from her perch. All around her were angels, their limbs launched out in every direction in some variation of the same dance. In the center of the drawing the sun shone brightly on both sets of figures. Below in dark blue lettering Clark read;

'To: Grandma. See You Soon!! Love: Jason.'

Jason tilted his head toward Clark, seeking his approval. Clark smiled through his tears and nodded.

The cherub-face boy stepped forward and gingerly laid the paper across the lid of the casket, laying his flower a top the paper to hold it down. He then scrambled back to his father and slipped his tiny hand into Clark's.

The trio stood there silently and slowly the sounds of the day began to break through to Clark's hearing. The haunting finality of the casket lid was fading to be replaced by the reverent song of a nearby morning dove. The wind rose and brushed the stray locks of hair from Clark's forehead and he lifted his face to its caress.

Lois gently reached up and dried the last tear from his cheek.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

Clark looked from Jason to Lois finding the hope for his future shining in their eyes. He took a deep breath and offered her a shaky smile.

"I will be."


	22. Forboding

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Two - Forboding

From behind the tinted glass of the limousine, Richard regarded the trio that already seemed so much like a family. Despite her tears, Lois' eyes were filled more so with love for the man who stood beside her. He could see her fingers twined with Clark's as he leaned against her and her tiny frame somehow managed to support him.

Jason had returned from the casket to wrap his arms around Clark's waist, looking up at him with childlike adoration that any son would have for a father figure. Lois reached around both Jason and Clark and the group melded as one with an ease that Richard had strived for over the five years he had spent at Lois' side.

His heart churned with conflicting emotions; the socially acceptable joy he held for them, glad they had found happiness, and a crushing sorrow at seeing everything he wanted from the other side of a pane of glass.

In so many ways in the time he'd been with Lois, he'd felt like a stand in. All this time he'd thought it had been Superman that held Lois' heart captive and just out of his reach. Now, Richard wasn't exactly sure if he was enraged or relieved to find it instead to be Clark Kent.

It was easy, he supposed, to accept that the woman you loved could be enamored with a mythical and untouchable legend. But it would be just as easy to let jealous, poisonous thoughts of the office klutz seep into his consciousness. Richard took in the sight before him… The epic awkwardness of Clark Kent seemed to have melted away into the quiet, peaceful confidence of a man who loved and knew his love was returned. He and Lois stood as two bodies sharing one soul, even in their sorrow the looks that passed between them caused his own eyes to shine with tears.

Then, Jason reached up to brush the hair from his face at the same moment Clark mirrored the gesture. Something about it niggled quietly in Richard's mind. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Looking at Jason, he'd always seen Lois. The chin, the nose, the ability to find trouble in any circumstance… He'd never pressed Lois for the boy's patrimony. The subject never failed to make Lois bristle and he saw no good in the answer that guaranteed far more questions.

His hands fidgeted as Lois, Clark, and Jason made their slow march back to the limousine. _I must be imaging things._ Richard chided himself. _An overly creative jealous mind…_ Yet, his eyes found themselves drawn to Jason and then to Clark and back again.

Jason seemed to feel his gaze and a pair of blue eyes rose to meet his. And Richard's body went numb with revelation.

_Impossible._

The numbness faded, his mind rioting with information, he mentally thumbed through a rolodex full of memories- looking for any hint, any clue that would support or deny his whirling imagination.

Lois had been so distant from Clark when he returned. She had hardly mentioned him when he'd been gone, at the time he'd given it less thought than he assumed Lois did just because the long-gone coworker seemed to be gone from the Planet, destined to become a distant memory.

Over the last year he'd seen Lois and Clark grow close, but he never suspected there was any kind of history. The way Clark fumbled around Lois… no one would ever assume anything beyond an office friendship was going on.

But Jason. Jason always seemed to have an uncommon bond with Clark. He was always found 'helping' Clark with his stories, coloring, or playing games. So many of his toys littered the surface of Clark's workspace, they'd all jokingly begun to call in 'Jason's Desk.'

How could he not have seen this before? His heart beat ever faster with a swirl of so many emotions, he struggled to identify them. Soon, they concentrated and blossomed into an urgent need for departure. His toe tapped with quiet impatience on the short ride back to the Kent farm. It was not the time to discuss this realization, but his own reaction demanded he vacate his present company.

When they returned to the house, it was already filled with people from the church who had spent the day cooking and making ready for the fellowship after the funeral. And it was only a few minutes before Richard made his way through the house upstairs, made a call and descended the steps, tote bag in hand.

"Richard, you're leaving?" Lois asked her expression confused.

Richard projected a casual air, though his eyes danced with barely restrained emotion. "Unfortunately. I was sitting on a number of deadlines and they really need my attention." Their eyes locked and the tone of his words rang as brass, she knew him well enough to know when he was running away. Seeking to avoid her questioning gaze, his attention turned to Clark. "My condolences again, Clark. Please call me if you need anything." He paused momentarily his eyes alive with meaning. "I wish you all the best."

The men shook hands and Clark pulled Richard into a hug. "Thank you, Richard." Clark said in a voice was rough with unshed tears.

Richard stepped backward, falling awkwardly from the embrace and Clark eyed him intently.

Lois looked from one man to the other as Richard shouldered his bag and stepped toward the door. "Does Jason know you're leaving?"

Richard nodded. "I caught up with him already. He's out back playing with some of the other kids."

Out front, there was a soft honk and Lois turned to see a van parked in the driveway, with red stenciled letters reading "Taxi" painted along the side of the vehicle.

Lois looked a little taken aback by this hasty exit, but she nodded. She stepped forward and kissed Richard's cheek. "Thank you for coming, for being here, for everything."

Richard's head dipped curtly. "I'll see you guys when you get back."

And with that he headed out the door to meet the waiting taxi.

Lois's brow furrowed in confusion. "What was all that about?"

--

Clark watched Richard's back as he fled from the farmhouse. His heartbeat still thundered in Clark's ears in a frantic cadence. As they had all settled into the limo, he'd noticed Richard's pulse elevate ever more.

For a moment Clark had dismissed it as a reaction perhaps to his and Lois' closeness during the funeral, but as the two men had been seated across from each other, Clark had noticed Richards gaze darting from himself to Jason and back again.

When they arrived at the house, Richard's hasty exit and paper-thin excuses sent every warning bell in Clark's head into a full scale alarm.

He had braced himself for a confrontation and had found none. This fact both moved and terrified him. Richard was an honorable man and he had given his friendship and respect in this time when it was needed.

But the look in Richard's eyes as he turned to leave suggested this was not over.

He was unsure of how to handle the situation. His thoughts flickered for a moment to his life long source of wisdom, before reality crashed down on him, reminding him that soft, wise voice would not be lending her advice this time… The gravity of the loss weighed him down like a boulder. Clark ran his hands over his face, his eyes sore from emotion and sleeplessness. He sent a silent prayer to God that the day would come to a speedy end.

Lois had excused herself to go and check on Jason and the crush of humanity made Clark feel trapped. The air around him was thick with a symphony of low conversations, and every eye in the room seemed to flicker over to him when they thought he wasn't watching.

Clark smiled politely at the person who stood before him, offering their condolences and nodded graciously before taking his leave and heading toward the front door.

--

Lois returned to the house and found Clark standing on the front porch gazing pensively over the cornfields.

"I thought I'd find you out here…" She murmured, sliding her hand around his waist and laying her head against his shoulder.

Clark smiled sadly. "I almost called into the kitchen for Ma to start another apple pie," he gestured with the pie-filled plate in his hand. "I took the last piece…" he sighed. "It's strange to have our house filled with people and have her not be somewhere in the midst of it all making sure everyone has eaten."

Lois angled her head and laid a kiss on his shoulder. She rested her hand palm up on the railing of the porch, offering it to him. Clark reached down, lacing his fingers with hers.

"Lois…about Richard…"

Suddenly, the front door squeaked, announcing they were no longer alone. They turned as they turned as one to see a sweet-faced woman about Martha's age emerge from the house. When her eyes fell on the pair, her face broke into a friendly smile.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one looking to get a bit of fresh air."

Clark squeezed Lois' hand before slipping his fingers from hers.

"Ah, Lois, Mrs. Gamble is responsible for the apple pie…"

"Donna! Clark, please."

The kindly woman turned to Lois and shook the hand she was offered. "You can call me Donna even if Clark somehow can't. We've all been telling him this for years but even the big city hasn't shaken his old-fashioned propriety."

Lois grinned. "It's lovely to meet you Donna, this apple pie is _amazing_."

Donna returned her smile if somewhat wistfully. "It should." Her eyes traveled over to Clark, "It's your mother's recipe. About two months ago, she came into the church and began giving away her recipe cards. The woman knew they were receiving gold. I thought it would be a nice way of honoring her to make it for today."

At that, Clark dug into the piece of pie on the plate he was holding and raised a large forkful to his lips. Donna watched him a bit anxiously as he chewed thoughtfully.

"Ifs wunerful. If I difint know beffer I'd say if can from Maf's kifen." He exclaimed, little flakes of crust tumbling from his mouth back onto the plate.

Donna's face lit up in amused outrage. "Talking with your mouth full! A scandal! You're mother would talk you over her knee!"

The trio laughed heartily and the oppressive sobriety of the day began to lift.

"Now Clark, is this your lady-love, or am I misinterpreting the way you look at one another?"

Donna's eyes were still sparkling as she sipped her iced tea.

Clark's eyes momentarily widened and his smile followed suit. "Why do I get the feeling she is just a messenger from the rumor mill?" He whispered loudly, his gaze lifted, catching more than a few curious eyes peering at them from inside the house.

Donna scoffed and swatted Clark's forearm. "You can hardly blame us! This is the first time you've brought anyone home, especially a girl…"

Lois smiled up at him as his hand found hers again, drawing her fingers to his lips and pressing a kiss against them.

"I guess I'm just not as good at keeping secrets as I thought I was."

Lois bit back a laugh and Donna was all but clapping her hands with glee.

"So, when is the wedding?"

Lois and Clark's jaws dropped in unison and they stared at her in shock and it was Donna's turn to hold her laughter at their stunned expressions.

With that she turned on her sensible-shoed heel and pranced back into the house, opening the door to a chorus of muted squeals and giggles.

"They don't waste anytime do they?" Lois exclaimed breathlessly.

Clark beamed, shaking his head. "The main sport of Smallville is match-making. If there is one thing the woman here love it's pairing up the eligible singles of the town."

"Then I'm sure there will be a town full of broken hearts to hear you're off the market."

Clark threaded his arms around Lois's waist. "I was off the market the day I met you, Lois Lane."

Lois rose up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck… for once at a loss for words he lowered his lips onto hers, the sweetness of his kiss only partially due to the apple pie.


	23. Onward

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Three - Onward

The afternoon bloomed into evening with a reverent sweetness.

On the porch, Clark watched the sun dance with the tips of the trees and as it dipped below before finally, it was hidden from view and sparkled from behind a multitude of overlapping leaves, casting ornate shadows onto the front yard.

One by one the guests began to take their leave. Face after beloved face filled his view and he found himself wrapped in a number of loving and tearful embraces as kind words were spoken and received.

_"If you need anything…"_

"Your mother would be so proud…"

"Such a wonderful woman…"

The throbbing in Clark's heart began to ebb under the words spoken by those his mother had touched. And ever beside him, Lois was his rock. Her hand rubbing gently across his back while he spoke to well wishers, her eyes offering silent encouragement every time their gazes met.

Through tears and through laughter she never left his side.

"Thank you." He murmured into her hair as he let her lead him into the living room.

Lois tilted her head to regard him. "For what?"

"For being here. For holding me up." He brushed his finger across her face, tucking a stray lock of head behind her ear. "I don't know how I would have gotten through today without you. You're my superhero."

She perched herself on the couch across from him, a loving smile lighting her face.

"Do you know how much I love you?" she asked, weaving her fingers through his.

Clark offered a small smile, leaning forward to meet her lips with his.

"I would do anything for you, Clark Kent."

--

An hour later, Clark reclined exhaustedly on the couch. Lois was spread out beside him, her head on his shoulder, her fingers playing with his. The bulk of the people were gone, save for Frank and Edna who were stationed on the loveseat across the room and Ben who had disappeared into the kitchen for another slice of Donna's apple pie.

On the floor, Jason sat Indian-style, his eyes and attention focused on the video game that lit up the small television in the corner.

"You need to get the coins on the pirate ship!" Edna exclaimed, leaning over Frank to point frantically at the television set.

"Edna! You're elbow!" Frank cried dramatically, completely unnoticed by his wife.

"I know! I already passed it." Jason said distractedly.

"Well you have another lap to go. You can get it then." Edna's brow was furrowed in concentration her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The screen flickered brightly as Jason maneuvered his racecar, collecting coins, a merry chiming accompanying each. Edna bounced with glee, much to the chagrin of her longsuffering husband.

"Do you want to switch places?" Frank asked, his head shaking back and forth.

But his words fell on deaf ears. "Look out for the water!!" Edna exclaimed as Jason's car careened off an embankment and sank into the pixilated water.

Edna and Jason groaned as one as Jason began his race once again.

"Frank, scoot over, switch places with me!" Edna scolded as she skirted around, shooing her husband to the other side of the couch.

Clark pursed his lips and swallowed his laughter as Frank's eyes met his across the room with a practiced expression of total amusement.

"You see what I have to put up with?" Frank gave a conspiratorial whisper.

"You sure have a tiger by the tail, Frank."

Lois grinned and gently nudged his ribs. "You should talk. Be glad I don't know how to play."

"Yet." Edna's eyes didn't break from the screen but her smile was meant for the spunky younger woman in which she saw so much of herself.

"Edna has this game at home." Frank's face crinkled into a quick wink.

The group settled into an amiable silence, save for Edna and Jason as they joined forces to conquer the game.

"YESSSSSS!!" Jason jumped to his feet whooping and hollering, first high-fiving Edna then throwing his little arms around her neck in a jubilant celebratory hug.

"Careful, son! She's a fragile old woman!" Frank cautioned jokingly.

"Nonsense!. I can still wallop you any day!" Edna peered at him over Jason's back, her eyes narrow behind her spectacles.

--

Martha's grandfather clock heralded the hour in a melodic series of tones as it began to strike the hour.

"Ok kiddo, bedtime for Bonzo." Lois leaned forward to rise from the couch.

"Aww, Mom! One more game?" Jason unleashed the full intensity of his puppy-eyed arsenal.

But Lois, having built up a tolerance over the years, was unmoved. "The TV isn't going anywhere, you can play tomorrow. Plus the whole purpose of you being on a farm is to enjoy the rural life! Get some sunshine and fresh air!"

Jason's shoulders drooped dejectedly.

Edna held up a hand toward Lois, "I'll take him up, Love. You stay here and keep an eye on the menfolk, I'm pretty sure Ben has eaten both of Donna's pies by now." Edna craned her head toward the kitchen.

"Hey!" a muffled voice came from the kitchen. She grinned and winked at Lois.

Jason cast one final pleading look at his mother before passing Edna and padding his way down the hall.

"Do you really have this game at home?" his voice was hopeful and Lois could see his impish expression in her mind's eye.

"And the sequels too." Edna patted his head and smiled at the group before ducking around the corner.

Ben emerged from the kitchen with a plate piled with the largest slice of pie that Lois had ever seen. Beside it was a scoop of vanilla ice cream big enough to warrant a plate of its own.

His face was friendly, chipper even, but Lois saw the sorrow reflected in his eyes and recognized the pie as the medicine it was. She herself was restraining herself from raiding the freezer to see if the ladies from the church had left behind any double chocolate fudge ice cream.

"Have you given any thought about what to do about the farm?" Frank spoke softly.

The gentle question slammed into Clark so heavily that Lois felt it in her own chest.

Clark drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His expression was unsure, as if it hadn't occurred to him something _needed_ to be done. Lois ran her thumb along the ridges of his knuckles and gently tightened her hand around his.

"It's just with you living in Metropolis…." Frank wrinkled his nose to straighten his glasses. "There's no need to make any decisions right now. But if you need help with anything, whatever you decide, that's what Eddie and I are here for. And I don't want to speak for Ben…"

Ben lifted his coffee mug in Frank's direction. "Go 'head and speak for me, Frank. Anything you need, son. We're here."

Clark's pursed lips relaxed into a hint of a smile. "Thank you." His eyes were dazed, his focus inward as he contemplated the situation.

Shortly thereafter, the group had disbanded. Edna returned to find Frank holding her shawl and Lois smiled as she watched Edna's face soften as she stepped into the warm embrace of wool and the arms of her husband.

Ben stood near the door, his hands shoved into the pockets of his suit, his expression far away.

Lois laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. He returned to himself and offered a sad smile. "If you…"

"I know." He nodded, clearing his throat over his brimming tears, "I'll call." He sniffed loudly and pulled his keys from his pocket. "I'll bring the truck around."

Edna's eyes fell on Clark and she extended her tiny arms toward him and he stepped forward to accept the affection she offered.

"If _you_ need anything, Clark…and you don't call…I'll be over here with a switch to tan your rear." Her tone was teasing but her eyes were serious. "You got that?"

Clark chuckled once and nodded, dropping a kiss on top of her silver-haired head. "Loud and clear." He drew back, a huge grin spreading across his face in spite of himself.

Edna seemed satisfied and turned her attention to Lois. Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she pulled Lois toward her. "Send Jason over some night. I'll teach him how to play that game, you and Clark need some time alone. With everything going on I doubt he's had a chance to take you out and show you Smallville's night life."

Lois laughed at Clark's indignant snort.

"They'll be home in fifteen minutes, twenty if theirs traffic." Frank chortled.

Frank shook Clark's hand and kissed Lois' cheek before escorting his wife out onto the porch.


	24. Forget About Remembering

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Four - Forget About Remembering

The day had been a long one. The low hum of visitors had faded, leaving she and Clark alone in a silent house. Clark had looked as exhausted as she had felt. His eyes were unfocused and unseeing as he sat beside her on the couch.

Lois recognized the look of a person who needed to be alone, as it was one she herself had worn many times. She'd reached over and squeezed his hand, begging off to take a shower and get changed for bed.

Now she stood before the window of her bedroom, gazing out into the beauty of a Kansas night.

An evening storm had refreshed the landscape and had brought with it a chill that was uncommon for so late in the spring. The cool air permeated the house and Lois shivered slightly, snuggling down into the well-loved robe that was draped around her shoulders. It was Clark's, and as such it was about three sizes too big for her. She tightened the tie at her waist and shook out the last droplets of water that clung to her hair.

The house was still as she made her way to the living room and found it empty. The television had been turned off and every light extinguished. She padded into the kitchen. All day the room had been full of people, food and activity, now it was empty and quiet.

Lois' eyes traveled over to the sink. The mountainous pile of dishes had been washed, dried and put away along with all the food. A task that would have taken her hours, had taken swift and strong hands less than a moment to complete.

Out of habit, on her way upstairs, she turned the lock on the front door. It slid into place slowly and awkwardly from lack of use. Years of living in the city had made her cautious, but the solitude of the farm as well as its powerful occupant, made such a gesture unnecessary.

She flicked off the foyer light and waded through the shadows that danced through the downstairs as the wind played with the trees outside. The light from the second floor spilled down the stairs, followed by a cold breeze that wrapped around her ankles, raising gooseflesh on her skin.

The stairs creaked softly under her weight as she ascended. Jason's gentle snores found their way to her ears as she neared his door. Looking inside, she saw Shelby curled up on the bed, finding ample room for her furry body next to the his slumbering form. The aged dog's head rose at her presence, her kind brown eyes finding Lois' in the dark. Her long muzzle opened, exposing her teeth and lolling tongue as the dog enjoyed an extended yawn before lowering her head sleepily onto Jason's hip.

Lois smiled softly and pulled the door closed. Another breeze flowed over her slippered feet and she rose her eyes to see a wooden panel hanging down from the ceiling. A slender yet solid set of steps hung from the darkness above.

She stepped closer until she found herself at the base of the steps, peering up into the attic. Quiet shuffling sounds came from the dimly lit room. Her very nature demanded exploration, and Lois was nearly at the top before she realized she'd been climbing.

Her head cleared the floor and each step brought the remainder or the room into her view. It was there she found Clark, sitting on the floor amidst row after row of dusty boxes. One such box, was planted in front of him, its top lovingly wiped free of dust and opened to questing eyes.

Those eyes had turned from the boxes and now rested on her. In the muted light, paths of moisture glistened on his cheeks. He made no move to wipe the tears from his face as he regarded her, instead his eyes held hers, sharing the depth of his sorrow and allowing her access to the weight of his burden.

The pain she saw there drew her closer until she was at his side. She folded the robe beneath her and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His arms encircled her tightly and she felt him sigh under her embrace.

"I was just...remembering." he said quietly. "It's amazing, just when I think I'm alright, it all crashes into me again."

Lois drew back and looked into his face. "You don't have to explain yourself, Clark." she whispered, running her thumbs across the surface of his cheeks, wiping the tears away. She pressed her lips against his forehead. "Show me?" she asked gently tilting her head toward the stack of opened boxes.

He nodded and reached behind her to pull an old comforter from the rocking chair behind her and spread it over the floor. Lois crossed her legs and settled beside him on it.

He seemed to look around for something specific, finding it, he leaned forward and pulled a black multilayered coat from the box in front of him.

"This was my dad's." he held the garment almost reverently in his hands. "Ma bought it for him one winter, because he was always outside in his flannel shirts."

"It looks brand new." Lois observed.

Clark smiled, sniffing quickly. "Yeh. He still wore the flannels. He said it as too nice of a coat to wear to work. So he only wore it when he took Ma someplace special."

He ran his hand over the fabric once before handing it to Lois. She was immediately greeted by the musty scent only years in a box could provide, coupled with the faintest hint of aftershave.

Clark pulled a large leather book into his lap. The binding groaned as he opened it, resting the cover on their knees. The first page was yellow and faded with age, it held a large news-printed photo of a field Lois remembered passing a number of times as they traveled through Smallville. The caption below the photo read;

_"Ron Shuster woke up Monday morning to find a large crater in his back field. Ron is one of dozens of Smallville residents who found their proprty to be the landing sights of small piece of space rock that fell during the meteor shower that occurred in the area on Sunday night."_

"Clark, what is this?" Lois's eyes traveled over the page, reading the short article.

"Looks like my birth announcement." he whispered, his voice colored with awe.

"What do you mean?" Lois asked as Clark turned the page to reveal more on the story of Shuster's field and the mysterious lack of debris given the size of the impact site.

"This was where my parents found my ship." he said matter-of-factly.

"You're ship?" Lois raised an eyebrow.

Clark cast a sidelong glance at her. "How else do you think I got here?" he said, turning the pages almost with great care.

Lois face held a dazed expression. "I guess, I never thought about it."

Clark thumbed through a few more pages finding another article dated seventeen years later. Lois leaned against his arm, reading over his shoulder;

_"Authorities have remained silent on the appearance of a mysterious flying man that had set about the country and the world performing feats of great strength and heroism..."_ Another page, revealed a blurry ground level photo taken by 'James Olsen.' A helicopter was hanging over the side of a building they both knew well and a blue splash of color collided with a falling form in bright yellow.

Lois gasped. "Clark!" she exclaimed in wonder. _'...The woman was later identified as Lois Lane, decorated reporter for the Daily Planet. Phone calls requesting further information were not returned...'_ Well of course they weren't! Lois waved her hands incredulously. "Like I was going to hand the story of the century over to...another...pap...er." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Clark turned the page to another weathered article. One familiar to them both, so much so that Lois' lips moved along with his as he read out loud;

i'This modern day Hercules stood before me in a seemingly endless stretch of blue fabric that invited the eye as much as the imagination..."

Lois blushed crimson and buried her face in his bicep. "Oh good grief. Is that how I used to sound? It reads like the beginning of a romance novel!" she groaned. She reached across his lap for the book.

Clark laughed in earnest, holding the pages out of her reach. "Wait wait!" His voice deepened dramatically as he struggled to speak between guffaws;

_'He strode toward me like a Greek god descending from the heavens, a being of infinite power and beauty, somehow seeing fit to grant me, a mere mortal audience..."_ New tears, this time of laughter, tumbled from his eyes as he let her snatch the book from his hands and he lay on his back laughing so hard, Lois could feel the floor vibrating next to her.

Lois narrowed her eyes at him before her lips quirked up in a self-deprecating smile. Her eyes flew over the rest of the article, the color in her cheeks growing along with her amusement. Her voice was bright as she turned the page to the next article. "At the time I felt like my writing put Dickens to shame..." She shook her head, leafing through article after article detailing the public life of the world's greatest champion.

Page after page touted the acts of bravery and heralded the blossoming legacy of a man not one of us, yet emerging as a leader among leaders, upholding the causes of truth and justice.

The dates on the articles began to spread and the headlines shifted from bolded fonts of awe and celebration, into shouted statements of concern and question; **iWhere Has He Gone?..."Superman Missing."..."Superman Disappearance: How The World Is Coping."...**

Lois' heart filled her throat as her fingers touched an article, tucked into place with just as much care as the others, and her eyes stung with tears at the gesture it represented.

_**"Why The World Doesn't Need Superman."**_ by Lois Lane

Martha Kent had not let anything escape from view. The good as well as the bad, the wonderful and terrible, all archived with great care into the pages of one book. Lois' eyes dragged over the words full of bitterness and hurt, a desperate attempt of a broken heart groping for the means to mend itself.

She felt Clark settle beside her, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for this..." she whispered over the tears in her throat.

Clark's breath warmed her cheek as his words massaged the soreness from her heart. "There's nothing to be sorry for." He lifted the scrapbook from her hands and closed it with purpose. He placed it back into the box. "The past is over," he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and ran his thumb along the line of her jaw. He placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. His lips brushed warmly against hers, "You are my home. Whatever my heritage, my legacy, it's incomplete without you at the center of it."

He held her shoulders and looked at her intently. "This is my future, everything I need, everything I searched for... it is under this roof. I took a trip of a million miles in order to find the family I left at home." He drew her into his lap, his arms encircled her waist as he held her tightly against him. "And now that I've found it. I'm never letting go."

Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled down at him, tears of joy glittering in her eyes. "That makes two of us." She cupped his face in her hands and brought her lips down to meet his.

He rose to meet her kiss, his warmth enveloping her as he returned her love, motion for motion and caress for caress. The sorrows of the past and current present melted beneath the all-consuming power of a promising future full of hope.

He clung to her, a low possessive groan rumbled in his throat as she nuzzled her nose against the curve of his neck. The quiet of the attic slowly surrendered to hushed and fervent declarations of love.

Clark shifted, as he cradled her in his arms and laid her atop the comforter that was spread over the cool wood of the floor. His gaze slid over every inch of her face, taking in every emotion that swirled in her eyes. His broad frame filled her view and filtered light of the evening spread across his shoulders like gossamer, bathing his silhouette in its azure hue.

He eyes were filled with such adoration, that her heart fluttered riotously in her chest. This tangible evidence of her response to him echoed in his sensitive ears and the love in his eyes spread to his lips, which descended on hers again.

"I love you." he murmured, his mouth still fastened to hers as if he were unwilling to entertain even the most trivial of separations. His fingers trailed over her collarbone in a tingling siege of sensation that lifted her off the floor to surge deeper into his embrace.

A box near her head slipped from is stack and its approach was deft;y hindered by Clark's hand, as he deflected it from its path. It's contents tumbled with a muted thud onto the floor beside them.

Singularly focused, Lois threaded her fingers through Clark's hair and drew him closer, her heart uniting with his in this most treasured of moments. He offered no resistance and the gilded light of the nightfall shifted in waves of muffled blue into a brilliant green.

The color, so married with suffering in her perception, clamored for her attention. Lois eyes popped open, seeking the source of the glow. To her left, a light emanated from amidst the scattered items on the floor. Lois craned her neck to see and Clark responded to this perceived invitation by trailing his lips over the sensitive skin.

"Clark..." she gasped, grappling for her voice.

"Lois..." he mumbled huskily as his nose nudged cloth of the robe from her shoulder.

"Clark." She wriggled insistently beneath him, "Clark!"

His darkened eyes drew lazily into focus, taking in her stricken expression and following the direction of her eyes. His own widened in astonishment as his vision found the shaft of light glimmering beside them.

They sat up as one and Lois placed herself ineffectually between him and the offending light.

"Is it kryptonite?" she asked, readying herself to cast the now pulsing box from the room.

Clark seemed to take a physical inventory. "I...don't think so. I don't feel any differently..." His words trailed off and his expression flashed from confusion to recognition. "It...couldn't be."

He leaned around her and fastened his hand around the heavy weight of the small lead box. Every available crack and crevasse was radiating with the power of the light source within. With a flick of his thumb, the latch of the box crumbled, disconnected, and fell to the floor. He cast one apprehensive glance in her direction and he tilted back the lid.

Suddenly, the entire room was bathed in an all encompassing emerald light.


	25. Visitation

**Ok I'll say it. I'm proud of this one...**

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Five - Visitation

The attic was silent, and still its only movement coming from the dust particles that danced in and out of the shafts of jade light emanating from the open box in Clark's hands.

He sat, dumbfounded, on the dusty planks of the floor. His eyes, fused to the sight before him, his body rigid, frozen with surprise. In his hands the box lay, its contents bared. Inside, a long cylindrical crystal lay within an aura of radiant brilliance that shone so brightly, beside him, Lois shielded her eyes.

The astonished silence stretched out endlessly, before Lois ventured a breathless question.

"Clark, what…is it?" Lois' eyes were all but closed as she struggled to peer into the box. She placed her hand on his forearm, drawing him back to himself. "Clark?"

He gave his head one final shake. "It's a crystal…" He replaced the lid, the exuberance of the light from the crystal still glowing so brightly that the shadows of the small attic were chased to the furthest corners of the room.

Lois lowered her hand from before her face. "Like the ones Lex stole from the Fortress?" Her voice lowered slightly, her eyes narrowing in repulsion at the mere mention of the serpent's name.

"Kind of. But it's impossible that it would be here. The crystals Lex stole from me were on the land mass I put into space. But this one …. There is no way…" Clark eyes focused inward, _Could it be possible? How?_

Beside him, Lois blinked rapidly, trying to banish the imprints the crystal had left, from her eyes. Her head lowered and she took note of the other items from the box that had scattered around them in the fall. She reached down and her fingers brushed across a manila folder. Out of habit, she picked the folder up and began to leaf distractedly through it.

Her brow furrowed as she raised what appeared to be a legal document into the light…

"I, Martha Kent, being of sound mind do hereby bequeath …" Lois murmured the page's contents under her breath. She trailed off and held the folder up toward Clark. "Clark, this is your mother's will!"

Clark's frowned slightly. "But she had one drawn up already," he took the papers from her hand. His eyes raced back and forth across the pages, his expression of confusion, giving way to surprise and finally resting into longing amazement. "This was written the year I … when they…found me." His voice was breathless with awe. His eyes narrowed and he held the paper up so that the light from the crystal splayed across its surface. "Look at this…"

_"…do herby bequeath the contents of this parcel to my son; Clark Jerome Kent upon the date of my death. The items therein shall be held until such time as he is of age or until no further family members remain to oversee his care._

The summary of the parcel includes one lead case without key, one sealed envelope, and a draft of the enclosed testament of will…"

Clark's eyes were wide, his face frozen in a mask of shock. "All this time?" His eyes scanned the paper, upon finishing he flipped it over to see if the answers to his questions would be found there. "I can't believe…Why didn't she tell me?"

His head shook slightly from side to side in evidence of his disbelief. He reached for the box once again and removed the lid. The crystal shone brightly as reached his hand into the box with a ginger reverence.

As the flesh of his fingers made contact with the surface of the crystal, the light pulsed brightly once more, almost joyously, and then dimmed to a bearable luminosity before finally darkening to an almost black forest green.

A sliver of uneasiness shivered through him and Clark looked at Lois uncertainly.

Suddenly, the room exploded with light, so bright that it overwhelmed even him. The light was powerful, all-consuming as it washed over him in rippling ways of luminescence. The crystal in his hand grew warm and a resonating tone eminated from within it's depths, ringing in his ears. The warmth traveled from the crystal over his fingers and up his arm. Soon his entire body vibrated with the energy pouring from the cylinder.

"Clark!"

Lois' panicked voice seemed far away, echoing faintly, until it vanished entirely. His eyes struggled to open against the sheer force of the energy streaming powerfully toward him. His freehand reached out to steady himself and met with only open air. He no longer felt the floor of the attic beneath him, every sight, every sound was overtaken, replaced with the all encompassing light and ethereal chime of the crystal.

There was no form or substance, either to himself or the things that had been around him and Clark felt as if he had become a part of the crystal, traveling without limit on a swirling shaft of light. He traveled now, faster than even his powers had allowed and he gloried in the sensation of it as the gleaming fluorescence of the crystal pulsed all around him in a riot of sound and color.

Then all at once, time seemed to slow down and with it the chime and light of the crystal faded leaving him in darkness. A tendril of wind whistled past his ear before wrapping around and brushing the hair from his forehead and Clark realized his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. He opened them slowly, blinking once, twice as the world around him came into focus.

The Fortress was dark and hollow, just as he had left it upon finding the evidence of Luthor's treachery. Light from the distant yellow sun filtered weakly through the ceiling, no longer able to reflect effectively off the darkened and cold shells of the once vibrant crystals.

Clark rose to his feet, brushing the snow from the knees of his jeans. A dormant ache found life again as his eyes scanned the ruins of what had once been his sanctuary.

His gaze fell on the empty console and his feet move unbidden in its direction. His hands trailed along the jagged peaks and valleys of the unfeeling crystal that once housed a priceless volume of knowledge. A broken sigh shuddered from the depths of him. It seemed a particularly cruel timing to find himself here, with the wounds from his recent loss still so enflamed and painful.

Behind him a small chime sounded, and Clark turned to see the green cylinder laying in the snow beside the imprint of where he had landed. His eyes narrowed in curiosity. This was not the Father crystal, he realized. Looking at it in the light, this crystal was smaller and more brightly colored...fragile. Clark crossed the room in a handful of steps and reach down to pick up the crystal, half fearing what excursion this touch would bring.

He knelt down and after a moment's hesitation he wrapped his fingers around the crystal. The low melodic hum continued, the light within pulsing it seemed in time with his racing heart.

It started with a glimmer and then the very air seemed to crackle and dance with tiny orbs of light that rushed past him and gathered with ever-building brilliance before him. The silhouette was faint at first, the edges fading coyly in and out of view. Clark peered unblinkingly into the light until his gaze met the familiar blue depths that materialized before him.

Her lips curved into loving smile.

His eyes glistened as the tears built and then spilled onto his cheeks. And his eyes fell closed as she spoke, a voice full of love and comfort that washed over him like a balm for his heart.

_"Hello...my little Kal El..."_

--

_Martha sat quietly on the front porch. The paint on the new swing had finally dried, allowing she and Jonathan to nestle together, swinging gently back and forth watching the evening pass. It was such a picture of serenity, of perfection. Never had Martha imagined to be experiencing it with a child in her arms._

Little Clark cooed softly in his sleep and Martha bent her head to kiss his forehead that was as soft as goose down. How was it possible to love someone so much that you'd only just met? Martha held the babe closer to her chest, humming a soothing tune as they swayed in time with the swing's rhythm.

She raised her eyes to heaven and shared a loving gaze with the Creator. Only this morning, she'd found herself shedding tears of longing as the strains of the closing hymn and the praises of the Lord filled her ears. She had prayed that God would bless her with a child for so many years and her faith was beginning to wane, her hope starting to fade. Martha had read the story of Abraham and Sarah so many times and she and Jonathan had joked that if the Lord saw fit, they too would bear children at the spry age of one hundred.

But this morning the jokes echoed hollowly and her sorrow had followed her out of the church. In fact, Jonathan had only just reached over to squeeze her hand in comfort when a ball of fire blazed overtop of their truck and crashed into Shuster's field.

Jonathan had yelled for her to stay in the car as he sprinted toward field. As always, Martha would have none of it, and flung herself after him into the plums of smoke that were even now reaching back toward the heavens from whence they came.

She wasn't sure what she had expected to see, a hole of course, a meteor perhaps, but her legs nearly failed when a small child all of three years old stepping out of the crater clad in only soot and a mischievous grin.

Jonathan had emerged from the hole carrying a shimmering blanket of woven primary colors, and she had wasted no time in swaddling the child and folding him into her arms. The boy looked up at her and their eyes met. He smiled broadly and then laid his head on her shoulder.

It was at that moment Martha Kent lost her heart...never to recover.

Jonathan had done his best to talk some sense into her, to appeal to her logical side. In the end, he had loaded the small spacecraft into the back of the truck, completely defeated buy the dual gazes of longing that were unleashed by his wife and new son.

Then, while changing the tire of the truck, Jonathan had found himself rescued by the other-wordly strength of his child, causing his battler cry to change from to strategy, as he and Martha spent the day weaving a story that they would wrap their son in to keep him safe.

Now beside her, Jonathan yawned and rubbed his eyes, his advancing years not agreeing with the physical labor it took to haul and hide a spaceship in a barn. He rose to his feet stretching so widely that his shirt untucked, and his belly peeked out from beneath his Sunday suit.

"I am going to head up to bed, are you coming?" he asked, his fingers running affectionately across the sleeping child's cheek.

Martha smiled lovingly up at her husband. "Not yet, I'm going to soak up the air a while."

Jonathan nodded and leaned forward to lay a kiss on both his wife and son's foreheads. "Our little miracle..." he murmured against her hair.

Her eyes shone with love and tears as she squeezed his hand and watched him walk into the house.

The evening was quiet around her, save for the occasional cricket or bellowing bullfrog. Martha sighed with contentment, nestling the child more completely against her and leaning back against the solid wood of the swing.

Sometime later, Martha was startled by a sound she could not define. She wondered briefly if she had fallen asleep. She gingerly raised herself from the swing and began to make her way into the house when she heard it again. A chime? Her eyes scanned the series of wind chimes that decorated the front porch, but tonight was still and the hanging tubes showed no signs of movement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint light coming from the direction of the barn.

"What on earth?" she whispered. Her full attention came to rest on the barn, when the light grew brighter as the chiming grew louder. Martha bit her lip, momentarily wondering if she should fetch her husband. But curiosity beckoned more seductively than sense, and before she could think, she found herself standing in the doorway to the barn.

_The light was brighter now, filtering through the slates of the door and Martha pushed open one door, letting the wood swing off to one side, baring the interior of the barn to her eyes. Her breath caught in her lungs at the sight before her._

A woman stood amidst the hay, clutching a small baby in her arms. Behind her a series of columns blinked and sparkled mechanically. Martha took a few bold steps forward and as she drew near she realized she could see through the woman to the rest of the barn behind her. This was a projection like the films they showed at the cinema...but then so much more.

The woman's ice blue eyes suddenly turned in her direction and a nervous smile tugged at her lips. She shifted her weight and clutched the baby to her as if she feared he would disappear.

Speechless, Martha approached still closer, noticing the redness of the other woman's eyes and the worry that creased her mouth. Her tongue darted out to whet her lips as she prepared to speak.

"My name is Lara Lor-Van of the planet Krypton. It is my dearest wish that this transmission is being viewed by the caretaker to which I have bequeathed my son, Kal El.." her voice broke momentarily and she hid her face behind the baby's head.

She paused a moment to collect herself. She rose her chin and regally tossed her long chestnut hair over one shoulder, steeling herself for her own words.

"If this signal is activating, I can only deduce that Kal El has traveled successfully and safely to planet Earth to which my husband, Jor El of Krypton and I sent him."

Transfixed, Martha took another step forward, and Lara seemed to notice her for the first time. The two mothers' gazes locked, each of them cradling a child...the same child, in her arms. Lara's eyes left Martha's face and fell upon the sleeping toddler.

"Is this my son?" her ethereally accented voice whispered in awe. "How much he has grown already..." she lifted her eyes once again to Martha. Taking in her trepidatious expression, she smiled gently. "And you...what are you called?"

Martha pursed her lips, wondering if perhaps she should bow or curtsy. "Martha...Martha Kent...of ...the planet...Earth." she fumbled. "How...I don't understand how this is possible..."

Lara looked over her shoulder at something out of Martha's view.

"I dare not take more time as this transmission must not exceed the chosen power barrier and thus endanger my...our son." she swallowed thickly. "I take this risk to say only this. With all the power and strength I possess, I charge you with the care of my only son. My planet is in the very last throws of her demise and the only means I have of preserving my child and the memory of my planet lies in your arms." Lara did not hide her face this time as tears of agony fell unchecked down her face.

"I have but one more instruction before I send my son on his journey into your life." she raised her left hand into view and held aloft a slender crystal that twinkled like an emerald against her skin. "If there should come a day where you are unable to fulfill the duty you have chosen to bear, should there be a time that you, as I, find yourself unable to protect this child I ask that this be given to those who would watch over him or to Kal El himself. I trust you understand the gravity of our joint circumstance and the fate that could befall this most special of children should he be delivered into evil hands..."

A loud rumble sounded behind her and Lara's eyes widened in fear. A forceful baritone rang in the distance. "Lara! It is time! Bring our son!"

Lara took one step back, her hand visibly shaking as she tucked the crystal into a pocket sewn to the blanket that was wrapped around the baby.

"Please do not fail in this task, dear sister." Lara cast another fearful glanced over her shoulder as the floor rocked so violently that she nearly lost her balance. "The hope of a race lies in your hands. On the pages of his life, he will record the final chapter of my planet's history. Protect him well. Guard him as you would your own blood, your own child. Raise him to be kind and true. And when he feels different and alone, be sure he knows he was loved above my own life." Her breath escaped in a sob. "I can offer you no reward other than the gratitude of a mother whose heart breaks at the loss of a chance to do these things herself..."

"Lara!" The voice came again and the gruffness was gone, replaced now by desperation.

Lara raised her eyes one final time to Martha's and nodded encouragingly, her bravery unwavering in these, her last moments of life.

"Farewell."

The transmission faded into blackness, leaving Martha once again alone in the barn, save for the child in her arms and the craft that had brought him to her. She strode with purpose across the room to the square of cloth that lay folded beside the ship. She rested Clark on her hip and with great care unraveled it, locating the hidden fold.

There she found the emerald cylinder that only moments ago had been clutched in the hand of her son's birth mother. A crushing wave of grief overtook her and Martha sank into the hay on the floor and sobbed, holding her son against her breast as she rocked back and forth, mourning for a woman who was no longer able to do so.

"I will watch over you with two pairs of eyes and hold you with two set of arms, you will be loved in the measure of two hearts. I promise this to you and to your mother. I will keep you safe and guard you with the last breath in my body."

Martha raised her hand and laid it upon the cool surface of the spacecraft. "This is my promise...and my legacy."

Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy.  



	26. Bonding

Hey Guys! Sorry for the looooong wait in between chapters. I always tend to do that when a story is coming to an end. I'm evasive like that. I included a bit of the last chapter in the posts to jog your memory.  
_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Speechless, Martha approached still closer, noticing the redness of the other woman's eyes and the worry that creased her mouth. Her tongue darted out to whet her lips as she prepared to speak.

"My name is Lara Lor-Van of the planet Krypton. It is my dearest wish that this transmission is being viewed by the caretaker to which I have bequeathed my son, Kal El.." her voice broke momentarily and she hid her face behind the baby's head.

She paused a moment to collect herself. She rose her chin and regally tossed her long chestnut hair over one shoulder, steeling herself for her own words.

"If this signal is activating, I can only deduce that Kal El has traveled successfully and safely to planet Earth to which my husband, Jor El of Krypton and I sent him."

Transfixed, Martha took another step forward, and Lara seemed to notice her for the first time. The two mothers' gazes locked, each of them cradling a child...the same child, in her arms. Lara's eyes left Martha's face and fell upon the sleeping toddler.

"Is this my son?" her ethereally accented voice whispered in awe. "How much he has grown already..." she lifted her eyes once again to Martha. Taking in her trepidatious expression, she smiled gently. "And you...what are you called?"

Martha pursed her lips, wondering if perhaps she should bow or curtsy. "Martha...Martha Kent...of ....the planet...Earth." she fumbled. "How...I don't understand how this is possible..."

Lara looked over her shoulder at something out of Martha's view.

"I dare not take more time as this transmission must not exceed the chosen power barrier and thus endanger my...our son." she swallowed thickly. "I take this risk to say only this. With all the power and strength I possess, I charge you with the care of my only son. My planet is in the very last throws of her demise and the only means I have of preserving my child and the memory of my planet lies in your arms." Lara did not hide her face this time as tears of agony fell unchecked down her face.

"I have but one more instruction before I send my son on his journey into your life." she raised her left hand into view and held aloft a slender crystal that twinkled like an emerald against her skin. "If there should come a day where you are unable to fulfill the duty you have chosen to bear, should there be a time that you, as I, find yourself unable to protect this child I ask that this be given to those who would watch over him or to Kal El himself. I trust you understand the gravity of our joint circumstance and the fate that could befall this most special of children should he be delivered into evil hands..."

A loud rumble sounded behind her and Lara's eyes widened in fear. A forceful baritone rang in the distance. "Lara! It is time! Bring our son!"

Lara took one step back, her hand visibly shaking as she tucked the crystal into a pocket sewn to the blanket that was wrapped around the baby.

"Please do not fail in this task, dear sister." Lara cast another fearful glanced over her shoulder as the floor rocked so violently that she nearly lost her balance. "The hope of a race lies in your hands. On the pages of his life, he will record the final chapter of my planet's history. Protect him well. Guard him as you would your own blood, your own child. Raise him to be kind and true. And when he feels different and alone, be sure he knows he was loved above my own life." Her breath escaped in a sob. "I can offer you no reward other than the gratitude of a mother whose heart breaks at the loss of a chance to do these things herself..."

"Lara!" The voice came again and the gruffness was gone, replaced now by desperation.

Lara raised her eyes one final time to Martha's and nodded encouragingly, her bravery unwavering in these, her last moments of life.

"Farewell."

The transmission faded into blackness, leaving Martha once again alone in the barn, save for the child in her arms and the craft that had brought him to her. She strode with purpose across the room to the square of cloth that lay folded beside the ship. She rested Clark on her hip and with great care unraveled it, locating the hidden fold.

There she found the emerald cylinder that only moments ago had been clutched in the hand of her son's birth mother. A crushing wave of grief overtook her and Martha sank into the hay on the floor and sobbed, holding her son against her breast as she rocked back and forth, mourning for a woman who was no longer able to do so.

"I will watch over you with two pairs of eyes and hold you with two set of arms, you will be loved in the measure of two hearts. I promise this to you and to your mother. I will keep you safe and guard you with the last breath in my body."

Martha raised her hand and laid it upon the cool surface of the spacecraft. "This is my promise...and my legacy."

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Six - Bonding

The images faded, the young Martha Kent and the boy version of himself were lost from his sight. Clark was so consumed in the emotion of the scene that he played out before him, that he nearly neglected to investigate its origin.

He lifted his eyes and the tear surged and swelled, obscuring the view of her, a shimmering apparition and then, so much more. As he drew in a breath, he could almost imagine the scent of her, the comforting fragrance of a flower he'd never seen from a world he'd never known and yet...home.

Her form drew closer and reached for him, coming suddenly into focus as she wiped the tears from his eyes. Clark startled at the touch, in all of his years spent in this arctic citadel, he had never once felt his father's embrace, even in the moments where his heart had lain broken for the longing of it.

His trembling hand rose in wonder to cover the warm hand that lay on his cheek. Her hand flexed and wrapped around his fingers, and for a moment they stood without words, hands clasped tightly together fearing the fragile strands of this moment would fragment and break apart.

"How..." his voice came in a whisper.

Lara Zor-El drew her son into her embrace for the first time and her willowy frame shook with barely suppressed emotion. Her hand ran soothingly over his hair and her maternal instinct rocked them back and forth gently.

"I have transported you into my consciousness." The purpose of this crystal was to protect you in the event that there was no one left to care for you or you were unable to care for yourself. I never expected to find you here, a man, grown tall and strong...so much like your father." The tears in her voice mirrored those that spilled onto her cheeks.

Lara drew back and Clark straightened to his full height towering over his mother. "I don't understand."

"Your father had the foresight to oversee your travel and your education as you grew on this distant planet, so like our own and yet so different. I feared that your origin would be discovered and you may have fallen into the mercy of a people who did not understand to gift they had been given. I could bear giving you up for a chance to live..." her eyes filled with fresh tears at the memory. "But I could not bear the thought that we would send you from one unthinkable fate to another. This crystal was designed to bring you here to this place to remain, out of reach from the world to which we sent you."

Her eyes looked past him and Clark turned around to see himself laying on the floor of the fortress, the Mother crystal clutched in his still lifeless form.

Clark's eyes grew wide with fear as he turned to regard his mother. "Am I...dead?"

Lara laid her hand on his forearm, her eyes deep pools of unconditional love. "No, my son. You are simply...separated. This custom has been a part of our heritage for centuries, preserving the life source that one might live on...forever. Protected and safe." She smiled gently taking in his towering form. "I now see you do not require the protection I sought to provide as you are no longer a defenseless child. Martha Kent of the Planet Earth must have honored her vow."

A shadow crossed Clark's face at the mention of his adopted mother's name. And Lara's eyes filled with understanding. "And if you are here now...has she..."

Clark nodded, pursing his lips tightly. "Just this week." he murmured, the sorrow in his voice mirrored in the azure depths of his eyes.

Lara cupped her son's face in her hands and brushed a kiss across his forehead. "I am sorry, my knowledge of her is limited, but what I saw was a woman of great love and bravery. May Heaven watch over her soul and bless her for her deeds."

"How was it that I saw..." Clark fumbled to explain what he'd seen.

His birth mother smiled and clasped her hands together demurely. "All of the information stored in this crystal is now in your possession. I was not able to include as much as I wanted, the time was too short and your father had taken such great care to supply you with all the knowledge you would need to survive successfully on this planet. He was concerned for your physical safety and education" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lowered her eyes. "My concern was always for the wellbeing of your heart." She paused to smooth the hair from his forehead. "I am troubled by it even now." Her eyes glittered with concern as she held his face between her hands. "Are you alone now, my precious son?"

Clark shook his head slowly, the rumor of a smile beginning to soften the lines of sorrow on his face. He patted his mother's hand. "No mother. I am not alone. There is a woman, Lois who I love very much." It was Clark's turn to pause now as he squeezed her hand gently. "We have a son."

Lara's eyes flew to his, growing into large joyous saucers at the news. "A son!" she gasped in astonishment. "A son..." her voice trailed off and tears of joy danced in her eyes. "I have not shed so many tears in one day since the day I sent you to this far away place. But these are tears I would gladly shed again to hear my son has become the father just as I'd always prayed." Her demure and collected facade melted beneath the glow of a woman just discovering she was a grandmother. She clasped both of his hands in hers nearly leaping with excitement. "You must bring him here at once! My eyes have ached for so long to see a grandson, and yet I never dreamed it would come to pass!"

Lara half-led, half-dragged Clark over to the entrance of the fortress and stood beside his still form.

"Go quickly, my Kal El, bring me my grandson and his mother, your wife."

Clark paused, halting their hurried procession A deep blush spread over his cheeks.

Lara tilted her head to one side and regarded him curiously.

"She...that is, Lois..." he stammered, licking his dry lips. "She is not ... my wife."

Lara raised an eyebrow in question, the concept foreign to her. An awkward silence stretched pregnantly between them.

After a moment, Lara's voice softly chased away the quiet. "The customs of your new home are far different than that of Krypton." her voice held the familiar chiding tone he had heard before on a farm in Kansas. "Perhaps children do not require their parents to be united on this planet..."

Clark grabbed her hand firmly, causing it to disappear into his. "Oh no! She will be my wife!" He ran out of steam at his birth mother's raised eyebrow. "... if she'll have me." he finished lamely. Clark exhaled softly, his attention shifting the part of him not receiving a good-natured evil eye from his mother. "How do I. -" Clark was unable to finish his sentence for in that moment he found himself laying on the snowy floor of the fortress. He looked around, seeking the woman who'd stood before him only seconds before.

"Mother?" his voice echoed hollowly off the cold and empty crystalline walls of the fortress. He tucked the crystal into his jacket pocket and lifted gingerly off the ground.

------------------------------------------------------

The wood groaned slowly and rhythmically as Lois rocked back and forth. Her mind raced in juxtaposition to the laziness of the sound. Her hands were shaking, having reached out for Clark and being able to grasp only thin air.

She'd been awake all night, sitting on the floor of the attic. For once in her life completely at a loss for action. Clark was gone. The was crystal gone with him and she was left alone reliving his disappearance over again in her minds eye.

Pages of the will were scattered all around her. She had searched through every page, hoping for some kind of clue, some idea where Clark had gone. Her vain attempts at maintaining her calm crashed to the floor with the small box she'd thrown across the attic. She'd cried out in frustration, finding Clark's father's old coat, she'd wrapped herself in it and sank to the ground, burying her face in her knees as the tears of fear overcame her.

_Not now. Not when we are just beginning..._

Lois' exhausted sanity was not match for her lively imagination as it scurried to and fro with possibility after macabre possibility. When it came to Kryptonian technology, her limited knowledge caused her to be more fearful than her nature usually required.

Had he been taken away? Pulled through some kind of tear in the fabric of the universe? Would he be able to return to her? What if it had somehow done the unthinkable, removing him from the world completely...forever? What if he wasn't even...alive....?

Lois shook her head violently trying to untangle herself from the ever tightening cords of her vivid imagination, tightening the coast around her, she busied herself with picking up ever sheet of paper that had been inside the box. Maybe she had missed something. Some kind of explanation...

The tiniest sound from the direction of the window caused her head to snap up and drew her eyes to the glass that was even now growing pale with the morning light. Incredibly, on the other side of the surface, hovered the man she loved,. Their eyes locked, her's in total shock and surprise, His eyes drank her in, broadcasting a thousand emotions, but most powerfully, his love for her.

Lois breath escaped her in a sob and she launched herself to her feet, flinging open the window. She reached out and this time her hands closed around his warm, solid arms. With a cry, she pulled him toward her, her fingers wrapping around his shoulders, around his waist, holding him so desperately that she leaned precariously out the window.

Clark steadied her with his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. And she clung to him, the sound of her heartbeat thrumming in his ears.

"Where did you go?" she hiccupped between sobs. "You were gone... and the crystal was gone... and I thought-... that horrible light..."

"Shh...." Clark drew back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Lois' lips covering his.

She clung to him with the same desperation that had consumed him on the floor of the barn. Her lips were fused to his, telling of her love in the way only a kiss could. He tasted her tears as they slid down her cheeks and he buried his hands in her hair, returning her declaration of love with one of his own.

"I love you.." he breathed between kisses, "I love you. I love you."

Lois threaded her fingers through his hair and rested her forehead against his.

"Please never do that again." she whispered breathlessly, her hands wrapping around his neck and shoulders, clinging to him tightly. "Please."

Clark eased Lois out of the window and into his arms. He cast a look around them and lowered their joined forms to the gravel of the lot beside the house. He held Lois' form all the more snugly against his chest.

"I won't." He promised, kissing the soft flesh of her temple. "I won't."

Lois was curiously silent, as he carried her gingerly across the expanse of the backyard. He held her steadily as he climbed the stairs up to the porch, Clark turned the knob of the back door and heard the daintiest of snores escape from the form folded so lovingly in his arms. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and gently laid Lois on his bed. She hardly stirred as he tucked his bathrobe more snuggly around her and laid the thick warm coverlet over her slumbering frame. Clark tucked away a wayward lock of hair that had found its way across her face.

He couldn't imagine the things she'd been thinking as he disappeared before her. Explanations and revelations would have to wait. Clark smiled softly. There would be answers to give and a question to ask when she awoke.

Down the hall, Clark heard Jason stirring. He fortunately had inherited his mother's ability to sleep through a hurricane and had missed the drama the night had held.

Clark rose from the bed and made his way silently to the door. The light of the morning had come to its full glory and its brilliance covered his bed. He could already feel the comforting warmth it would bring. The light flickered behind the thickness of the drapes, winking at him conspiritorially. Clark smiled and let the door slide closed, entrusting Lois to its protection. With that, he padded down the hall to make breakfast for his son.


	27. A New Chapter

**Yay new words lol. This is not the final chapter, I have a bit more in store for these guys. Stay tuned this week(ish) for the last chappie.**

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest :** Chapter Twenty Seven - A New Chapter

Lois glowered at the sunlight that had made it's way through the window and past the curtains into her eyes. She groaned - her mind and body were not quite ready to actively function.

She'd slept the sleep of the dead. It had been an extremely long night and her nerves were shot at the thought of Clark-

_Clark._

Lois sprang upright, her entire body rigid at the memory of the previous evening's events. Her fists gathered the comforter until her knuckles were white and she cast the covers impatiently away and threw herself off the bed, hitting the ground running, nearly trampling Shelby in the process.

The door gave a short shrill screech of protest as she flung it open and ran down the stairs, not sure which reality would greet her. She seemed to remember Clark returning, but in her desperation she couldn't dismiss the possibility it had been a figment of her agonized imagination trying to comfort her shattered heart. Even now her chest ached with fear at the thought that she may very well be running to an empty kitchen.

She leapt down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Gravity and momentum combined to lend her wings until her foot caught the corner of the step with her toe, pitching her forward toward the hard wood at the base of the staircase.

Lois' eyes squeezed tightly shut, bracing for impact. Her preparation proved to be unnecessary as her careening body swung up and away, coming into contact not with the unforgiving floorboards, but soft, strong arms instead.

She lifted her head and her eyes widened briefly in surprise. Her vision cleared and sharpened, bringing into focus the handsome face of the keeper of her heart.

Clark Kent was holding her firmly against his body, his arms wrapped around her in a solid shield of protection. Their entwined limbs hovered were mere inches from the hand-woven rug that Martha had spread at the base of the steps.

He shifted in the air, draping her legs over one arm before guiding them into an upright position and gently lowering them to the floor.

"Looking for someone?" he murmured chidingly, running a comforting hand over her hair. His calm gaze fused with her frantic one.

Lois wrapped her arms around his shoulders, not quiet satisfied he was real. His strong heartbeat thrummed beneath her cheek as she clung to him as if he would disappear again. The warmth from his body soothed and calmed as it too wrapped around her.

"I thought for a moment... that I dreamt you'd come home." She whispered against his chest before looking up at him with eyes that were swollen and out of tears.

Clark's face was soft with love as he lowered his lips onto hers, not relying on words to convince her of his reality. Lois took his face in her hands and responded with every bit of love she possessed. Their breaths mingled in an ever deepening embrace, until it seemed their very souls had melded together. Lois basked in the sunlight of his love, never knowing how she'd survived without it. It was as if her heart had been returned to her.

"Now, does that feel like a dream?" his thumb grazed across the crest of her cheek, a small, wicked spark glimmering in the azure depths of his eyes

A smile of pure joy sparked across Lois' features in response, and she led his lips back down to hers. Time passed unnoticed as the pair held each other, neither willing to let go.

Clark, nuzzled his lips against her ear. The warmth of his exhalation floated across the sensitive skin sending a delicious tingle through her. "Marry me, Lois." he breathed, his words soft and intimate.

Lois drew back to look up into his face, thinking she'd once again been dreaming. His face was a light with expectancy and a love that reassured her that their dream had only just begun.

-----

Jason bolted from the kitchen at the shrill shriek that came from the hallway. He arrived to see his mother, her eyes filled with tears looking up at Clark who for some reason seemed overjoyed.

"Mommy! What's wrong!?" Jason eyed the pair quizzically.

Lois laughed through her tears and rubbed her nose on her sleeve, which she had always told him scolded _him _for, saying it was terrible manners. "Nothing's wrong, Honey." She gave a final sniff before crouching down to his level. "Clark just asked me to marry him!"

His eyes widened and shot up to Clark, their matching blue eyes twinkling in time. Jason's face took on the same expression as his father's and he threw his arms around his mother's neck.

There was a gentle whoosh of air and Clark faded into a blur as her ran up the steps. He came to a stop in his bedroom and opened the top drawer of his desk. Out from under various sheets of paper and old birthday cards, Clark pulled a wooden box.

Clark carefully opened the lid to view its contents. Medals from contests at school, his first pair of glasses, and a small modest gold chain on which hung his parent's wedding bands. He smiled wistfully and ran his fingers over the rings, knowing somewhere in Heaven one couple in love offered their blessings to another.

He tucked the chain into his shirt pocket and was about to close the drawer when a onyx rock rolled into view.

Clark's face spread into a grin as he plucked the small piece of coal from the bottom of the drawer. His thoughts traveled back only a week to remember the sweet middle aged mother whose son he had rescued back in Virginia.

Somehow it seemed so much longer ago that he had burst forth with a confession of his sorrow to a woman he barely knew.

Clark's cheeks reddened at the memory of her kindness and understanding. He'd been and still was grateful for her ability to see the grieving son behind the superhero.

_"You rescued me from the very pain you're going through tonight..."_ she had stooped down and chosen a loose piece of coal from the ground. Maryanne has straightened to her meager height and pressed the rock into his hand. _"You hold onto this, and think of what you did here today. Remember it's the pressures of life that turn a lump of coal into a diamond."_

Clark sat down on his bed, gazing at the small stone in his hand. A few weeks ago his secret had been discovered and he'd nearly lost Lois. As the news of his mother's failing health arrived, he's wondered if he would be able to withstand such a loss. The pressure almost been more than he could bear and through it all, Lois had stayed by his side. Forgiveness had been bestowed, secrets revealed, truths spoken out loud...finally. Through the worst of circumstances, something wonderful had arisen.

He wished with all of his heart his parents could be with him now, to see such a joyous day come to pass.

"Clark!" A slightly out-of-breath Lois came trailing behind their son, who catapulted himself onto the bed beside him. "Would it be too much to ask to give a bit of notice before you go blurring off like that?"

Clark rose to his feet and offered her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I was coming right back down." He crossed the room and returned to the desk, digging in the drawer once again.

"What are you looking for?" Lois asked.

He opened a cloth covered box and pulled a worn old ring from between two velvet-covered pieces of cardboard. "This." Clark held the ring up for Lois to see.

It was blackened in some places and bronzed with age in others. The prongs that had once held a modest gem were bent slightly. It was clear it held value or Clark wouldn't have kept it. Lois eyed him curiously.

"This was the first ring my father bought for my mother when they were dating." He picked a piece of fuzz from the withered and empty prongs. "She lost the gemstone one day while she was working in the garden. They didn't have the money to replace it, but Mom couldn't bear the thought of throwing it away either."

"I see." Lois nodded politely, her astute mind, already a step ahead and trying not to look a touch disappointed at the of course special, yet unimpressive ring.

Clark's eyes glinted in amusement. He held up the piece of coal.

"What's that?" Lois eyed the lump with squinted eyes.

"It's coal." He replied, grinning.

"Coal." She nodded warily. He could put a twist tie around her finger for all she cared as long as she could still call him her husband.

Clark chuckled and closed his hand around the rock. He squeezed gently at first, then with increasing pressure until bits of blackened dust began to trickle from between his fingers. He opened his hand and blew a gentle puff of air into his palm. The debris swirled away to reveal a diamond winking back at them.

Lois gasped in amazement.

"Cool!" Jason said standing on the bed peering over Clark's shoulder.

Clark raised the small gold ring and fitted the diamond into place. "Cover your eyes." he murmured as his eyes glowed red and tiny waves of molten fire stretched forth from his eyes. The ring between his fingers glowed red, then white as the fire refined it and the dross and age fell away to reveal the sparkle of newness once again. In between the once empty prongs, now rested the diamond he'd just created.

He lifted the ring before him and blew an icy stream of air across the heated metal. There was a light hiss as the heat retreated, leaving behind a pristine ring that shone in the midmorning sun.

"You can open your eyes now."

Lois opened her eyes and gasped in delight at the sparkling ring held aloft before her. New tears sprang to her eyes as he slid it over her finger. "Oh Clark. I don't know what to say." She rose up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. "It's so beautiful." her voice was thick with emotion and awe.

She held out her hand at arms length and gazed, transfixed on the ring on her finger. She chuckled. "You know Clark, if this superhero thing doesn't work out, you may have a calling as a jeweler!"

He laughed and wrapped one arm around her as he collected Jason and held him in the other. The trio laughed and whooped in excitement, the sunlight of a new day shining merrily through the window, to give its blessing to the new chapter in their lives.

Clark gave Lois a little squeeze and twirled Jason around in the air until a soft and exuberant landing on the bed. He grabbed a coat off the hook in the corner of the room and handed it to his son. "Here, put this on." He jogged off into Lois' room and retrieved his father's coat from where it had been cast aside while she'd slept. He returned and held it aloft for Lois to step into.

"What's all this about?" Lois asked.

Clark grinned. "We have a flight to catch."


	28. Reclamation

Still not the end. Yeh I fail at judging how many chapters I'm gonna write.....

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest Chapter Twenty Eight – Reclamation**

The summer wind flowed softly over the trio as they took to the air. Lois held Jason on her lap as Clark cradled the two of them gently in his arms. Clark's cape swirled joyfully around them as they headed north, making a light flapping sound as they gained speed.

Everything he'd ever wanted was in his arms today. He had a family, a home, not in any one place. It wasn't on a distant star or even a cozy farm in Kansas. His home was made up of the people he loved and who loved him in return, those with him, and those who would live forever in his heart.

Clark took his eyes from the horizon for a moment to gaze at his precious cargo. Lois' head lay contentedly against one shoulder and Jason was snug against the other, looking excitedly at the passing clouds below. Nestled between the two of them, a risen symbol, the crest of his Kryptonian heritage completed the circle.

Lois' head pivoted upward and their eyes met. Clark kissed her gently, feeling her lips bloom into a smile along with his. The progressive chilling of the wind went unnoticed in warmth of their blissful cocoon.

"There it is!" Jason exclaimed, bouncing a bit in Lois lap, causing her to reflexively tighten her arms around her exuberant child's midsection.

Lois raised her gaze to peer into the distance as the Fortress came into view. A wry smile of understanding played across her mouth. She shook her head. "You took him to the Fortress, eh?" She tilted her head to look at him.

Clark's face transformed into a look of innocence that mirrored his son's. "Just the one time…I promise."

"And there was nothing there anyways." Jason interjected, a tinge of sadness coloring his voice.

His father's eyes darkened a shade, "Not since Lex…" The cloud in his eyes passed as quickly as it had come. Clark tightened his hold on them just a fraction. "Hold on tight." He said as they floated through a tunnel of jagged crystal on their journey into the heart of the cavernous fortress.

The temperature was warmer here, the wind content to whistle musically about the roof of the structure, did not make its way down to the Great Room.

Jason hopped out of his mother's arms and took off toward whatever wondrous thing had attracted his young eyes.

"Jason! Don't go too far!" Lois called after him.

A low chuckle rumbled through Clark's chest. "He'll be fine here, Lois." He lowered her gingerly to the snow frosted floor.

Lois raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I seem to recall some bottomless pits somewhere in the vicinity of your restroom." She tapped lightly on his chest. "I guess people who can fly don't have to worry about such things."

Clark watched her face as Lois' eyes took her on a tour of a place that held so many memories. She hesitated briefly on the area where Zod and his minions had sought their perverse rise to power.

Lois twined her fingers through his and squeezed gently. "Clark," her expression was uncertain. "Why…are we here?" Her eyes scanned over the charred, lifeless shell of the main control panel, now missing its cherished contents.

Clark ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. He understood her trepidation. The last time he'd brought her here it has been one of the best and worst days of their lives. He'd given up one part of himself to pursue another and he had paid dearly.

Beside him, Lois' heartbeat quickened. His eyes followed hers to the molecule chamber that had at one time or another both taken and restored his powers.

Lois' eyes widened as Clark reached into the folds of his cape and pulled out the Mother crystal. "Last night, when I touched this crystal, it brought me here."

A look of confusion crossed her features.

"My mother…my _Kryptonian_ mother" left this with my mom in order to protect me if anything ever happened to her." He sighed wistfully at the mention of Martha. "I guess she hadn't planned for me to be a grown man when it finally made its way into my hands."

Lois nodded once, encouraging him to continue.

"When I arrived here I saw her…Lara. My mother. She transported me here with Kryptonian technology designed to keep me from the rest of the world if I'd been too young to defend myself. I got to see her, to _touch_ her." He swallowed the lump building in his throat. "I told her about you…" his eyes fluttered over the room in the direction of their son. "About Jason… and she sent me back. She wanted to meet you."

Lois looked awestruck as she soaked in this new information. "But…Clark, how is that possible? Isn't she…didn't she…" Lois fumbled for the most delicate phrasing.

"Yes," Clark whispered. "She and my father passed with the rest of Krypton. It is a custom of my people to preserve the life source of a loved one and I imagine she used this technology in some way to do the same for me…"

Clark squeezed Lois' hand and released it. "I partly expected to be transported back here when I touched the crystal again, but nothing happened." He climbed the steps, small pieces of ice crinkling beneath his feet as he ascended.

"Mom! Look!" The boy was gazing into a warped piece of crystal, his reflection stared back, its features stretching and bulging comically from the other side of the surface.

"That's great." Lois said distractedly, stretching her hand out toward him. "Come here, honey. Your dad has someone he wants us to meet."

Jason cast one final look into the surface of the crystal before scrambling over to his mother's side. His eyes followed his father up the stairs, but after a stern look from his mother, her steeled for climbing onto a stocky stump of crystal at the base of the staircase.

Clark looked back and offered them a tenuous smile. He took a breath and slid the crystal into the console. It clicked into place and rotated, once before disappearing within the depths of the organic circuitry. The entire module pulsed in an organized rhythm that gradually increased in speed and intensity until finally, a shaft of emerald light erupted from the center of the mechanism.

The tune seemed to bounce and echo off every crystal in the once majestic stronghold, slowly at first, but it's fervor increased and the rebounding tones were coupled with shafts of light that came pouring in from outside as the crystals seemed to lighten shade by glorious shade.

The Fortress was reborn with a dazzling luminescence that took the breath of all who witnessed it breath. The console expanded, its natural tendency being growth, to a larger size as each gaping void was filled with what had been lost until the edges of each crystal that had been lost, reappeared in their rightful place.

"Amazing." Lois whispered, awestruck as Clark descended the steps to stand beside her.

"_The technology of Krypton is a bit different from that or your realm._"  
a disembodied voice floated musically through the air.

Lois' head snapped up looking for the origin of the voice before locating the sparkling visage of a woman in her mid thirties. Her hair shimmered and flowed in a graceful waterfall of silvery auburn, her delicate features reminding Lois in some ways of Clark. Her electric blue eyes held the same warmth as her son's. For all her ethereal grandeur, Lara's presence gave an unassuming and welcoming air.

Lara smiled gently and continued on, "_ while your technology comes from the manufacturing of electricity and inanimate objects, ours roots from something a bit more organic." Her gaze fell on the crystal control panel, now fully restored to its former majesty. "Where the destruction of a machine on earth means the end of its function, in our culture, it can be regenerated and made to grow back..._"

"Like a starfish." Jason said, grinning impishly, his little feet swinging to and fro from his perch.

Lois and Clark turned as one to regard their son in surprise.

Lara's smile widened. "Yes. Much like your starfish, dear one."

Clark took in the sight of the restored fortress with naked emotion. His eyes shone with tears as they caressed every inch of the crystalline surfaces. Memories of his father and his grief over the loss of this sacred place filled his heart until it overflowed with relief.

Looking at the main console, his mind sprinted forward in time to think of all the things he would teach Jason here, all the secrets of universes. His throat tightened at the thought of sharing his homeland with Lois. To be able to have them be a part of his heritage was an honor and blessing beyond description.

Jason leaned toward his parents. "Who is she? She's shiny." He whispered loudly to his mother.

Clark started, looking up to see Lara's glimmering apparition turned to Jason, her smile adding luminescence to her already glowing features. "I am Lara of Krypton; I am the matriarch of the house of El. I am wife to Jor El and mother to Kal El. And you, child of earth, beyond all my dreams and imaginings are… my grandson." Here eyes were alive with emotion that transcended need for a physical body.

Jason stared at her for a moment, his young mind soaking in the rush of information that had just been given to him. "Grandma…El." He tried out the name, his eyes widening and a toothy grin spreading across his face. "Cool!" Jason hopped off the crystal and scampered up the console steps without reservation toward his grandmother.

Lois took a step forward, "Oh…Honey I don't think you can hug her…" She looked to Clark, for assistance.

Clark turned up his palms in response. "This is new territory for me too."

"[i]Unfortunately, my son, the sensation of touch is only possible during the transportation you experienced before. In this state I am able only to converse and guide. I will forever be found in this mysterious place, waiting with gladness to see the path of my son and now my grandson, remain straight and true."

Undeterred, Jason reached out one small hand toward his ghostly ancestor.

Lara closed her eyes, her radiant countenance bending forward to embrace him. His face shone with light as the spectral arms surrounded him. "It tickles." he giggled.

Lara rose to her full height and smiled down at Jason before lifting her eyes to Lois. "And you, beloved woman, you must be the one to whom my son has entrusted his heart."

Lois blushed and nodded her head, letting her hand once again disappear into Clark's.

Lara's eyes fluttered to their joined hands, taking in the shine of the ring on Lois' finger. She looked at her son. A smile began in her eyes and then spread to her lips, "And I see she has agreed to become your wife, if my recollection of the earthly courting ritual is correct."

It was Clark's turn to blush under her attention. "Yes, mother." A knowing look passed between the two of them.

Lara beamed in joy. "May the heavens smile on you both. It is no small thing that you have chosen to talk together. You are uniting far more than just yourselves, through your love you will knit together galaxies and continue a heritage that dimmed so many years ago. Because of you, the legacy of a doomed planet has found new breath. But beyond the depths of this union, my heart weeps in greatest joy to see my son, whom with profound grief, I sent from my hand, having left one, has found home his after all."


	29. Union

_Bequest:  
- The act of giving, leaving by will, or passing on to another.  
- Something that is bequeathed; a legacy. _

**Bequest Chapter Twenty Nine – Union**

The mid-afternoon sun exploded gloriously from behind the clouds, streaming long shafts of light onto the golden harvest that reached toward it in stalks that had grown tall and strong. The air sparkled with wayward blossoms that, freed from nearby fruit trees lilted and danced on the wind, filling the air with their beauty and fragrance.

An ever-growing army of cars and trucks filled the long driveway, spilling out into a seemingly endless line on the road that bordered the seasons crop.

Beneath the folds of a pristine white silk tent, a small trio of musicians tuned their instruments, the strains joined the cacophony of sensation that soared together forming the perfect elements of spring.

The winter was over and a new season had begun. This symbolism was not lost on those who filled the modest farmhouse, that even now hummed with activity, anticipation and the scents of enough food to feed an army.

"Lucy! My veil!" Today the volume of Lois' voice held none of it's usual sass or impatience. A radiant softness had settled over this woman who looked every inch the beaming bride.

Lois stood before the floor length mirror in Martha Kent's bedroom, a waterfall of sparkling ivory and crisp white lace spilling elegantly around her. Seemingly an after thought, her chestnut hair was pinned up and interwoven with tiny florets from the apple tree outside, their scent adding just another layer of perfection to an already perfect day.

Sure Jason's vest had been washed instead of dry cleaned, and was now small enough for a child half his age to wear. Of course Shelby had jumped on Ben in greeting and left a large muddy paw print on the lapel of his one immaculate gray suit. And there was an air of expectation that somehow the proceedings would be halted by any number of emergencies somewhere around the world, clamoring for her fiancé's attention...

Lois grinned at her reflection. But all of those things paled in comparison to the life that stretched before her. She would not trade one day of traditional perfection in the face of stepping into so blessed a union.

Lucy burst into the room in a hail of high heels and tulle. "It's done Lo!" I can't believe how stubborn those wrinkles were! But look!" She held up the abundant and creaseless veil. "It's perfect."

Lois lifted the hem of her dress slightly from the floor and she crossed the room to embrace her sister. "You're right. It's perfect." she smiled joyfully.

"Oh! Your shoes are downstairs. I'll go get them!" Lucy breezed out of the room as quickly as she'd come.

Lois' eyes fell to the window that faced the backyard where the ceremony would soon begin. Row after row of white folding chairs lay upon the green of the new grass that had formed only weeks earlier. Loved ones and acquaintances milled about the ground their conversation a low hum punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter that found its way to her ears.

Her eyes were drawn of their own will to the front of the crowd where a cluster of gray suits had gathered. There stood the male additions to their wedding party. Jimmy stood out only because of his lack of height. He didn't seem to notice the deficit as he laughed and joked with the people around him, his face stretched into a wide smile. Beside him, Ben was stooped, bending toward Jason and adjusting the tie he'd pulled loose for the umpteenth time. Jason grinned at Ben and nodded at something he was saying, inclining his face to the man standing next to him.

Richard's face was partially hidden from Lois' view, but the dimple in his cheek suggested his current mood. He seemed an unlikely guest, let alone addition to this particular wedding, and his agreement to participate had given Lois a sense of completion that she hadn't expected to possess.

Her gaze shifted left, gliding over the stocky form of her father who for once did not have a cigar in his mouth, her eyes continued their search as she wondered if this time he would really quit.

Suddenly her eyes rested on the object of her affection. Clark Kent stood proud and tall at the head of the proceedings, his hands folded neatly in front of him. Every so often his eyes would lift to the back of the crowd in anticipation of her arrival.

He looked so regal standing there, a fitted gray suit that had been tailored specifically for his dimensions. Lois grinned as her mind brought back to her remembrance their conversation about then second most important suit he would ever wear.

_Are you sure you're okay with gray? I'm going for an elegant motif, but if you'd rather wear something less monochromatic..."_

A chuckle had rumbled low in his chest. "Lois...I wear 'something brighter' every day. Monochromatic will be an excellent and welcome departure from primary."

She stepped closer to the window, careful to conceal the majority of her dress behind the lace curtains of Martha's room. _"Looking for someone?"_ she whispered, her voice teasing and barely audible.

At her words, Clark's dark head lifted in her direction his face alight with joy. Their eyes met over the distance and Lois' heart pounded against her chest. She marveled at his ability to reduce her to a pile of goo at a glance....and a hundred yard glance at that.

His smile widened, letting her know his sensitive ears had heard far more than her words.

Lois returned his smile and put a lace covered hand over her heart. _"I trust all is well with the world and you'll be there when I come down?"_

Clark's eyes sparkled as he shot her a look of mock offense. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

_"I love you Clark Kent. I would wait a hundred years if I knew at the end of them you would be my husband."_ she whispered over the emotion building in her throat.

Clark raised his hand and put it over his own heart. _Hurry._ he mouthed.

"I'm nearly ready. I'll be there faster than a speeding bullet." she beamed through her tears.

His baritone laugh traveled across the yard and Lois sighed contently as she rose to make her way toward the door.

-----

Clark watched the curtains f his mother's room fall closed. Lois was on her way. He resisted the urge to peer through the wood and glass to sneak a peek of her in her gown. He still couldn't believe he'd found himself at the alter where Lois Lane would become his wife, and he didn't want to tempt fate by disobeying tradition.

He exhaled and straightened his tie over his chest. There was no Kryptonian symbol beneath his fingers. Today, this was the only suit he wore. Perhaps he had superstitions of his own. Hopefully the absence of his usual suit would for one day cancel the need for it.

A bit of movement caught his attention, and Clark turned to see Frank and Edna Briesemeister sitting at a place of honor in the front row. Frank was dressed to the nines, his quiet and calm demeanor a dynamic opposite to his wife who was waving with frantic affection in Clark's direction.

Without his parents here, it was an extra blessing to see these people whom he loved so dearly step into this place of support. They had done that and so much more with their agreement to help Ben take on the overseeing of the farm. Clark grinned and wiggled his fingers at Edna.

There was a footfall beside him and Richard stepped into his scope of vision.

They hadn't spoken much since they had returned to Metropolis. It had been a week before Clark had even spied Richard outside of his office. The man had been avoiding him and Clark had thought it wise to give him the space he needed.

Then, one not so special day, the time had been late, Lois was out chasing a lead, Clark was putting the finishing touches on a fluff piece destined for the middle of the paper and Richard had materialized beside his desk.

-----

_"It's true, right? I didn't imagine it." Richard raked a hand through his already disheveled hair._

The two men had stared at each other for a long time. Clark didn't insult him by asking to what he'd been referring. The moment at his mother's funeral was still vivid in his mind. Clark hadn't mentioned it to Lois in case he'd been wrong, but now, looking at the man standing so expectantly in front of him... he knew no denial would dissuade Richard of what he already knew...the question was...how much...

Clark took a breath. "It's true." he said quietly.

Richard nodded once. "Thank you." he rasped. Richard pulled a chair from the vacant desk beside them. The aged wood creaking as he sank heavily into the seat.

An awkward silence stretched between them.

"I never thought to ask her. I mean... you're the last person anyone would ever suspect." He gestured and leaned back in the chair. "And when you were in India or whatever, she never mentioned you, not once. I just never figured you for the kind of man who would leave his son without a father."

The barb found its target and Clark lowered his eyes to study the floor. "I didn't know..." He lifted his pain-filled gaze to the man before him. "I didn't know...I didn't...I never could have left..."

Richard exhaled. "I know it, Clark. It's just easier to hate you a little if you _**had**__ known."_

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything, Richard..." Clark offered.

The editor nodded. "I suppose it's not exactly an easy thing to bring up, Clark. How do you work something like that into a conversation? 'Nice to meet you Richard, by the way, the child you're raising in mine.'" A bitter laugh burst forth from his lips.

Clark forced a humorless smile as his eyes once again found their way to the floor. There was nothing he could say. Nothing to defend. There was no changing the past. He needed to ride out the storm until Richard could find his way through it.

"I guess part of me always knew..." Richard turned the chair away from Clark. "I mean we both know you weren't in India..."

Clark's blood ran cold. "What...do you mean?"

"Jason was watching me one day as I was fixing our car. The bumper slipped and fell off the block...Suddenly the car is three feet away from me and I'm laying there without a scratch..." It was Richard's turn to analyze the floor. "I never said anything to Lois...God knows she never wanted to talk about Jason's father...but I knew...." Richard eyed him very carefully as if monitoring his reaction.

Clark stared, wide eyed at Richard, unsure if he silence betrayed him.

"What I _**didn't**__ know was that ... __**he**__ is you." An agonized sigh escaped him. "It was always a given to me that Jason was Superman's son. The business with the car only confirmed it. But when I saw you with her and Jason in the cemetery, It all came rushing in. Jason looks __**just**__ like you. He __**moves**__ like you. And he can bench press a car. I may have been blinded by love before, Clark but it was only a matter of time before the journalist won out."_

"Richard-" Clark started.

I'm right...aren't I?" he interjected. And please...you never lie."

The muscle in Clark's jaw leapt to and fro as he chose his words. "Some secrets...must be kept."

Richard lifted a cautionary hand in Clark's direction. "Oh no...Don't misunderstand. This isn't an interview, Clark. I'm not trying to work out a confession so I can expose you. This conversation is strictly for the maintenance of my sanity. It goes no further than this."

Clark eyed him warily.

Richard stood up. "It's not because I'm selfless that I would vow to keep this secret. I love Jason, and making you public would eventually make him public too. And regardless of my feelings on the matter...I could never subject him to that." his words shook with the force of his conviction.

Clark let out the breath he'd been holding. Slowly he leaned forward in his chair and rose to his feet, stretching to his full and imposing height. He paused a moment before reaching up and sliding the glasses from his face.

Though the confession did not surprise him, Richard gasped at the transformation of the man in front of him. Clark Kent the bumbling klutz was gone and in his place stood Superman wrapped in a tweed suit that did nothing to dilute his powerful air.

"Richard, I've always known you to be a man of your word." Clark's voice was rich and full of authority and somehow conveyed his inflexible stance without being threatening. "I trust you when you say this will go no further than us." Clark extended his hand.

Richard pause a moment as if wondering whether his bones would be crushed to dust when he entered into this handshake. The thought was a fleeting one and he firmly seized the hand of the most powerful man in the world. His word was his bond, he would keep this secret to protect Jason, and maybe just show Superman he wasn't the only one who stood for truth.

-----

Time has past and with it, the tension between the two men had eased. They had settled into a functioning work relationship and in ever increasing moments - friendship.

Richard had hardly batted an eye at the news of Clark's impending nuptials and somewhere in the swirl of pre-wedding activity, Richard had found himself agreeing to stand up in the wedding beside Clark's bow-tie toting best man.

And as the string quartet lifted their offering of Pachelbel's canon to the heavens, Richard found himself smiling only a _little_ wryly at seeing the sight of Lois Lane take to the aisle at a wedding in which he was not the groom.

And what a sight she was. As the assembly rose to its collective feet, the sight of Lois in her wedding gown drew a number of appreciative gazes.

But none more appreciative than that of the groom. Clark's face was the very manifestation of a man in love waiting for his destiny to begin. His face was awash in the glow of the setting sun, stray beams lending sparkle to the tears in his eyes. Such was the magnitude of this moment, of this love, that Richard was not surprised to find his own eyes stinging with unexpressed tears.

Lois' countenance was the only face that could compete with that of Clark's. The sunset at her back illuminated the edges of her silhouette, transforming her into an angelic apparition and Richard mused that it was on fitting for god o marry an angel.

Sam Lane lifted the shimmering veil and laid it lovingly over his daughter's hair. The military man kissed her cheek, his own wet with tears.

Lois reached up and gingerly wiped each of them away. Her father took her hand and led her toward her groom. Clark extended his own hand and the General joined their hands together but not before giving Clark one last thinly veiled if-you-break-my-baby's-heart-I'll-kill-you look.

Clark gathered Lois' hands in his and laid a kiss across their intertwined fingers. Below them stood Jason, still vest-less, holding a small pillow holding two very significant rings.

Pastor Nemeth smiled at them both and opened the well-loved Bible in his hands. "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to bear witness to an event most treasured in the eyes of God. A knitting of souls. The transfiguration of two hearts into one. Today we join in marriage Lois Lane and Clark Kent..."

The true meaning of this union was largely lost on those who had gathered, save for a select few. The sun had set on one chapter in order to give birth to another. Today, a new family was being born and with them, a legacy continued on.

As vows were exchanged, so much more than a marriage promise was given. The heritage of two civilizations fused together to bring hope and a future for both, laying a mantle on the able shoulders of those to whom it was bequest.

Rings were placed, and with them a new circle of trust had been forged. A world changing secret had taken on new guardians, with reverence they carried on as those before them had done.

The sun shone one last glimmer of brilliance before surrendering itself to the horizon. A host of white stringed lights brightened and cast an ethereal glow over the pair as Clark leaned forward, ready to seal with a kiss the crest of their future.

A small chuckle rippled through the crowd as Lois, took his face in her hands.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

The End


End file.
